In today’s interconnected world, seamless and cost-effective cross-border payments remain a significant challenge. Domestic payments are efficient, but international transactions still suffer from high fees and are unnecessarily slow. Wise, a pioneering fintech company, has been at the forefront of solving these issues since 2011. With over 12 million customers saving more than $2 billion annually, Wise has revolutionized cross-border payments by building a completely new infrastructure to move money globally – plugging in directly to five local payment systems.

In this keynote, we will explore why obtaining direct access to payment systems is vital for both consumers and businesses. Wise’s direct connections have resulted in substantial cost savings, creating downward pressure on prices across the industry and benefiting consumers globally. This also aligns with the G20 goals by promoting cheaper and faster payments. In fact, G20 governments have also committed to promoting (direct) access to their local payment systems.

We will discuss how collaboration with regulators and industry players fosters innovation, reduces costs, and enhances competition – and how direct access to payment systems can mitigate commercial and competition issues, bring innovation to consumers and businesses, and reduce systemic risk in the financial system.