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According to a report by Singapore’s “Lianhe Zaobao,” central banks from Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Thailand, in collaboration with the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), announced on July 1st the completion of the third phase of the regional cross-border settlement network, Project Nexus. In the upcoming phase, the central banks of India and Indonesia are set to join, which will then connect a fast cross-border payment market covering over 1.7 billion people.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore, central banks of Malaysia, the Philippines, and Thailand, along with the BIS, issued a joint statement highlighting that Nexus aims to establish a unified connection method for the real-time payment systems of participating countries. Once operators connect to Nexus, they will be able to link with all partner countries. This initiative is expected to be implemented by 2026.

This development has garnered significant attention from Indian media. The “Indian Express” reported on July 2nd that the project means India’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI) will be interconnected with the payment systems of Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand. Looking forward, the platform could be expanded to include more countries.

Previously, the Qatar Peninsula TV reported that India has been actively promoting its electronic payment methods globally. UPI, considered a “digital public infrastructure” designed by the National Payments Corporation of India, integrates over 300 banks and is accessible through more than 60 applications, including Google and Amazon. With the potential of 1.4 billion domestic users, UPI could serve as an alternative to the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) by increasing international partnerships.

The trend of cross-border payment integration in Southeast Asia has also attracted the participation of Japanese enterprises. According to the “Nikkei Asian Review,” Japan and ASEAN countries aim to achieve borderless QR code payments by the fiscal year 2025. The report suggests that one of the purposes is to strengthen Japan’s influence in Southeast Asia to counterbalance countries like China. It is known that Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry has held discussions with governments and central banks of several ASEAN countries.

On July 3rd, Pan Helin, a member of the Expert Committee on Information and Communication Economic Affairs under the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, told the “Global Times” that ASEAN countries previously lacked a unified cross-border settlement system, which limited further development of economic and trade relations among them. The cross-border payment cooperation among Southeast Asian countries, India, and Japan benefits all parties involved, promoting regional trade facilitation. At the same time, due to the numerous payment applications in Southeast Asia, Japan and India also aim to participate in and even lead the establishment of unified cross-border payment system standards to strengthen economic ties with Southeast Asia. With the strong economic bond between China and ASEAN, both sides can also deepen cooperation in the cross-border payment system in the future.