Bank of America works on Zelle-UPI bridge for cross-border payments

How do you see the evolution of cross-border payments across your key markets, and where does India stand for BofA? We see cross-border payments continuing to evolve towards greater speed, transparency, and integration, driven by client demand for real-time visibility and more efficient treasury operations. While regulatory and market-specific complexities remain, the overall direction is clearly positive as payment ecosystems become more connected. India is one of the most compelling markets in this transformation. Its strong digital infrastructure, growing role in global trade, and continued BofA presence make it both a strategic growth market and an important Corridor supporting multinational and local clients as they expand internationally. Do you plan to explore UPI linkage to the US market, and is an RTP system an option you would consider for your clients' cross-border payment requirements? BofA is working closely with Early Warning Services, LLC on a pilot that will link the alias-based payment processing engines of Zelle in the US with UPI in India. This would be a major innovation in the alias-based payments space, providing an alternative to retail and small business customers looking to move money internationally, while retaining the embedded experience of Zelle and the security inherent in an alias-based offering. At a time when BofA is expanding its cross-border RTP capabilities between the US and India, and remittances are growing, what are the rails you are exploring to speed up payments and lower costs? As mentioned, the Zelle pilot is central to the expansion of capabilities between India and the US, targeting remittances directly. BofA recently announced its cross-border RTP solution, launching payment capabilities into 10 countries, of which India is one. Creating interoperability and connectivity across domestic RTP schemes is central to supporting the cross-border remittance use case and providing greater value to our clients through lower costs, greater speed, and more control and transparency. How do you see regulated stablecoins fitting into the future of commercial and cross-border payments, what potential benefits could they bring to corporate clients, and is there an opportunity for India? From BofA's perspective, regulated stablecoins could become an important complement to existing payment infrastructure, helping improve the speed, transparency, and efficiency of commercial and cross-border payments when supported by clear regulatory frameworks. For corporate clients, the potential key benefits are faster settlement, enhanced liquidity management, and more streamlined treasury operations, particularly as programmable payments and digital money innovations evolve. We believe adoption will ultimately depend on regulatory clarity, interoperability, and strong risk and compliance standards. For India, given its leadership in digital payments and growing role in global trade, there is meaningful potential for regulated digital money solutions to further enhance cross-border payment efficiency as the regulatory framework develops.