The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has joined Project Nexus, an initiative set to develop a multilateral cross-border instant payment system (IPS) by 2026. Launched in 2022 by the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), Project Nexus represents the BIS’s first project in the payments sector through its innovation hub.
While the RBI has previously collaborated with seven countries to enable bilateral payments through the Unified Payments Interface (UPI), this marks its first involvement in a multilateral project. Project Nexus aims to connect the Faster Payment Systems of four ASEAN countries—Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand—along with India. The project has the potential to expand to additional countries in the future. The initial agreement among the five founding countries was signed with BIS in Basel, Switzerland.
The recently concluded third phase of Project Nexus included the participation of central banks from the ASEAN countries, domestic IPS operators, and Bank Indonesia, which holds special observer status. With the commencement of its fourth phase, RBI will join the project.
Project Nexus is designed to offer a cost-effective alternative to existing global instant payment systems, which often have high transaction fees. Its goal is to reduce costs and speed up international remittances, thereby promoting financial inclusion, economic integration, and scalability. This aligns with the G20 Roadmap for Enhancing Cross-border Payments.
The platform will standardize connections between domestic IPS systems, enabling operators to connect to Nexus with a single integration rather than managing separate connections for each country. This approach simplifies the process and connects all participating countries within the network.
To oversee the implementation, a new entity called the Nexus Scheme Organization will be established. This organization will be jointly owned by central banks and IPS operators. BIS will transition to a technical advisory role to support cooperation among the participants.
