The five founding central banks - RBI (India), Bank Negara Malaysia, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, MAS (Singapore), and Bank of Thailand - formally established Nexus Global Payments (NGP), a company limited by guarantee incorporated in Singapore.
What Is Nexus
Nexus is the world's first multilateral instant payment system interlinking platform, designed to connect domestic instant payment systems (UPI, DuitNow, InstaPay, FAST, PromptPay) so consumers and businesses can make real-time cross-border payments in local currencies. Unlike bilateral QR corridors, Nexus uses a single integration point - connect once, reach all participating countries.
Operational Progress
MAS executive Benjamin Lee was appointed interim director. NGP launched an open procurement exercise to select a Nexus Technical Operator (NTO) to build and run the multilateral switch. The ECB and Bank Indonesia participate as special observers with pathways to future membership.
Scale and Timeline
The five founding countries represent 1.7 billion people and some of the world's largest instant payment systems. Live operations are targeted for mid-2027, with the NTO selection expected to conclude in late 2025.
Why This Matters
This is the transition from research project to operational infrastructure. Nexus could fundamentally change retail cross-border payments in Asia by making instant, low-cost transfers between countries as easy as domestic payments. The multilateral model scales more efficiently than the current patchwork of bilateral QR corridors.