Module 5: Cross-Border Payments and FX

Why does an international wire still take three days when a domestic one takes seconds?

Cross-border payments are not domestic payments with a foreign currency flag. They are a fundamentally different system, built on correspondent banking, governed by a stack of regulations from multiple jurisdictions, and priced on opacity. This module unpacks the actual mechanics: how a payment from a U.S. company to a supplier in Vietnam genuinely moves, where the latency comes from, where the FX margin gets buried, and why fintech challengers like Wise and Airwallex are real businesses rather than marketing.

What you'll learn in this module

• The correspondent banking model, nostro and vostro accounts, and why each hop adds latency and cost
• How SWIFT messaging works, what gpi changed, and where SWIFT does and does not move actual money
• FX pricing layers: interbank, retail spread, weekend markup, and how to read a true all-in cost
• The compliance stack that gates every cross-border payment: sanctions screening, AML, KYC on both sides, and country-specific reporting
• Where the new rails (RippleNet, instant-settlement stablecoins, regional networks like SEPA Instant) actually deliver and where they hit the same walls

The complete module gives you a framework for evaluating any cross-border product or vendor on transparency, speed, FX margin, and regulatory exposure.