Blockchain for Cross-Border Payments | A Detailed Guide

High costs and inefficiencies in cross-border payments are driving banks, companies, and customers to switch to digital solutions on a global scale. Blockchain solutions development for the financial services, according to experts at Oodles, will allow institutions and individuals to make cross-border payments in a safe, reliable, and cost-effective manner. Financial services will reach citizens who have restricted or no access to banking via a cross-border payment solution built on a blockchain platform like Stellar.

The Challenges Associated with Cross-Border Payments

Cross-border transfers are like a black box because there is no clear connection between transacting parties and factors like traceability and clarity are missing. Furthermore, high costs for processing transfers from one network to another, which are ultimately borne by end customers, narrow the demand for financial providers and degrade their service capabilities. Furthermore, the influence of data transfer is by the lack of standardization across global networks, which frequently poses threats and risks to user transactions and other information.

It is forcing businesses and consumers to switch from banks to Fintech providers who use blockchain solutions to better meet their needs.

Slow Transaction Speed

According to McKinsey's research and study (2015) on cross-border payments, a cross-border transaction takes an average of three to five business days to complete.

Hefty Transaction Cost 

Fees escalate at each phase of the process, including payments from the sender's bank to national and international correspondent banks, as well as foreign exchange. The fee for high-volume cross-border transfers is usually between 2% and 3%. When payment rates and prices are smaller, however, it may go up to 10%. Furthermore, it is unclear whether organizations charge fees.

Opaque Transaction Transparency

Tracking transfers as they are in transit is normally difficult for participants in transactions. It raises doubts about the actual payment number as well as the arrival date. It's also difficult to keep track of purchases that have issues, such as erroneous account numbers.

How Blockchain Comes to the Rescue

Blockchain is a distributed (shared) blockchain ledger that records information about any transaction made on it in an immutable manner.  Blockchain can offer features like transaction protection, confidentiality, performance, and pace to businesses and individuals who make daily cross-border payments.

According to a Deloitte report, blockchain will help organizations and individuals complete transactions in less than 5 seconds and save up to 40%-60% on transaction costs. Companies may pay a single fee or none at all if they use blockchain for cross-border payments. It would be useful for multinational companies who submit payments across borders daily.

Blockchain Applications in Cross-Border Payments

Increased Cost-efficiency 

Since banks seldom have direct connections with one another in a global setting, cross-border transfers become costly. Then, to make indirect fund transactions, they turn to intermediary banks. For this operation, the deduction of intermediary bank charges is from the overall transfer number. Occasionally, both the sender and the recipient bear this burden, or one party costs the entire amount. It happens in addition to any taxes levied by the remitter or receiver banks.

Our blockchain specialists at Oodles believe that Stellar blockchain creation services will offer effective payment solutions without the use of middlemen. It drastically lowers the costs of sending cross-border transfers.

The restricted amount charged by transacting parties is to costs imposed by the provider of the distributed ledger technology-based solution.
According to news, using blockchain networks like Stellar and Ripple, banks can save up to 40% on average.

Also, Read | Is Stellar Blockchain a Right Fit for Cross-Border Payment Solutions

Settlements in a Flash

A cross-border trade involving intermediaries takes two to five business days, according to an R3 survey. A substantial time zone differential between the two currency jurisdictions is important. It necessitates the movement of funds through related regional payment processes by the remitter. The remitter must also take into account the different operating hours of these networks around international time zones. Transaction times on the Ripple network for blockchain solutions range from two to five seconds. Currency trades using Ethereum blockchain solutions take anywhere from 15 seconds to four minutes on average.

Also, Read | Examining Cross-border Payment Solutions Powered with Ripple Blockchain

Strengthened Security Protocols

Cryptographic authentication protocols make records on a cross-border blockchain safe. Both network members have private keys and the association is with individual transactions which function as digital signatures. When anyone attempts to change a document, the user's signature is rendered null. As a consequence, the peer network recognizes that this has happened.

Since blockchain is decentralized and distributed through a peer-to-peer network, both users have access to the same up-to-date and synched version of the ledger at every given time. It implies that the ledger has no single point of failure and that altering its condition is almost impossible.

Changing the data on the blockchain needs approval by up to 51 percent of the participants all at once. In addition, compromising the network necessitates a significant amount of processing power.

The crippling Bangladesh Bank heist, in which robbers stole credentials from the country's central bank and used SWIFT messaging to steal more than $81 million. It's an event that, according to supporters of blockchain technologies at Oodles, a blockchain software firm, would not have happened if a distributed ledger technology (DLT) solution had been used.

Attempts by attackers to delete their activities from the database will have been identified by the machine. That would have made it possible to trace where the funds were sent.

Also, Read | How Blockchain Is Revamping The Cross-Border Payments

Increased Visibility and Transparency

Blockchain platforms like Corda, according to our in-house team of blockchain experts, will greatly shorten the regulatory method.

Although a user's identification is secret in a public blockchain solution, the assets and transactions of each address are visible. Individuals, auditors, and regulatory bodies can access all transactions carried out by that address. It is with using an explorer and the public address. Furthermore, in a private blockchain solution, only permissioned parties in a contract can see the data.

According to a study released by the Financial Executives Research Foundation in 2018, blockchain-based fintech platforms will replace conventional financial reporting bodies. The simplicity provided by Corda blockchain systems will also help to remove checks and balances that take a lot of time and effort.

Connect with our blockchain development experts for a detailed discussion around how blockchain revamps cross-border payments.