The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has partnered with the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) and the central banks of four Asean (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) nations to launch Project Nexus, a multilateral international project to facilitate retail cross-border payments.

The platform, which is planned to launch in 2026, would connect Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and India's domestic fast payment systems (FPS). The central banks of these nations are the platform's original members and early adopters.

"An agreement to this effect was signed by the BIS and the central banks of the founding countries, namely Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM), Bank of Thailand (BOT), Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), and Reserve Bank of India on June 30, 2024, in Basel, Switzerland," according to a press release from the RBI.

Indonesia will continue to participate as a special observer on the platform. Nexus intends to make retail cross-border payments more efficient, quicker, and cost-effective, according to an RBI press statement.

The banking regulator has stated that the platform would be expanded into additional nations in the future. India has been marketing its own FPS, the Unified Payments Interface (UPI), for cross-border P2P and P2M transactions. According to the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) website, countries including Mauritius, Singapore, Nepal, and Sri Lanka allow UPI payments. The emphasis on cross-border international payments comes as fintech businesses in India and the NPCI concentrate on international payments.

It follows the NPCI's drive to expand UPI rails internationally after entering areas like as France, Sri Lanka, Singapore, and Mauritius.In January 2024, NPCI announced the debut of the UPI-PayNow connection, which would allow Indians to receive remittances directly into their bank accounts from Singapore and vice versa. 

The same month, Google Pay and NPCI International Payments reached an agreement to expand the scope of UPI payments beyond India.In February of this year, the NPCI announced a cooperation with Lyra, an e-commerce and proximity payments startup, to allow Unified Payment Interface adoption in France. 

The same month, UPI services were launched in Sri Lanka and Mauritius. Last month, fintech giant PhonePe partnered with Sri Lanka-based LankaPay to facilitate UPI payments across the island nation.