Bradesco completed the first pilot transaction on Bank of America’s Cross-Border Real-Time Payments solution, using existing Swift connectivity and Hong Kong’s Faster Payment System. Bradesco initiated the transaction, which was delivered in Hong Kong dollars. Bank of America told Global Finance that the payment arrived in near real time. The exact processing time and cost were not disclosed.
The pilot links a conventional bank messaging connection to a domestic instant-payment rail. Bank of America said the solution provides real-time tracking, full-principal delivery and payment certainty.
BUILT ON EXISTING CHANNELS
“Financial institutions want a practical way to accelerate international payments without disrupting the channels and processes they use today,” said Christian Stolcke, head of Global Financial Institutions, Nonbank Financial Institutions and Governments in Global Payments Solutions at Bank of America. The pilot kept Bradesco’s existing Swift connection while Bank of America handled delivery into Hong Kong’s local faster-payment system.
Daniel Stanton, Payments Product Head in Global Payments Solutions at Bank of America, told Global Finance that the solution is “designed to work with existing banking infrastructure”. Global Finance obtained direct responses from Bank of America on the payment’s speed and planned rollout, while noting that Bradesco did not respond to its questions.
CASHPRO ACCESS IS PLANNED FOR 2027
Bank of America plans to begin making the capability available to CashPro clients in 2027, with more precise timing to be given nearer launch. Bradesco and Bank of America are also piloting a separate US payment route through Swift for consumer and small-business international payments.
Stanton said the first transaction was “an important step as we expand the capability to more countries, currencies and client payment types”.