# Nexus (Project Nexus)
> Source: https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/standards/nexus
> research date 2026-06-03 · extracted at 2026-10-06
> Publisher: Barcoder — encyclopedia of QR, barcode and payment-code standards
Specifications:
- [Project Nexus — BIS Innovation Hub](https://www.bis.org/about/bisih/topics/fmis/nexus.htm)
- [Project Nexus completes comprehensive blueprint — BIS press release, 1 July 2024](https://www.bis.org/press/p240701.htm)
- [Enabling instant cross-border payments — Project Nexus blueprint, July 2024](https://www.bis.org/publ/othp86.pdf)
## Overview
Nexus (Project Nexus) is a multilateral model for interlinking domestic **instant payment systems (IPS)** so that a payment can travel between any two connected countries in roughly a minute. It was developed by the **Bank for International Settlements (BIS) Innovation Hub** and a group of central banks, and is being moved into live operation by a dedicated entity, **Nexus Global Payments (NGP)** [1][1][2][2]. Nexus is a "behind-the-scenes" rail rather than a consumer-facing app or a QR symbology: it standardises *how* national fast-payment systems connect to each other, so that the cross-border QR-payment and proxy-addressed flows that ride on those national systems can reach across borders without bespoke bilateral integrations [1][1].
Nexus is one of the priority actions of the **G20 Roadmap for Enhancing Cross-border Payments**, which targets faster, cheaper, more transparent and more accessible cross-border payments [1][1].
## History
- **2022** — A successful proof-of-concept linked the test instant-payment systems of the Eurosystem, Malaysia and Singapore under the BIS Innovation Hub [1][1].
- **23 March 2023** — A prototype successfully linked three systems, and a wider group of central banks committed to exploring broader connectivity [1][1].
- **1 July 2024** — Project Nexus completed its phase-three **comprehensive blueprint** for connecting domestic IPS globally, and partners stated their intention to work towards live implementation. They agreed to establish a managing entity, the **Nexus Scheme Organisation (NSO)**, to be based in Singapore [2][2].
- **2025** — **Nexus Global Payments (NGP)**, a Singapore-based not-for-profit corporation, was incorporated by the founding central banks of India, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand to operate the scheme and prepare for go-live [1][1].
The core implementation partners (phase four) are **Bank Negara Malaysia, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, the Monetary Authority of Singapore, the Bank of Thailand and the Reserve Bank of India**, with **Bank Indonesia** participating as a special observer [2][2]. The European Central Bank announced its intention for the Eurosystem to join Nexus as a special observer, exploring a link between its TARGET Instant Payment Settlement (TIPS) service and other fast-payment systems [1][1].
## Technical specification
The defining feature of Nexus is its **single-connection multilateral model**. Instead of building and maintaining a separate bilateral link for every country pair (which scales as N² connections), an IPS operator makes **one connection to Nexus**, and that single connection lets the IPS reach **all other countries on the network** [2][2]. This is the structural contrast with the earlier generation of one-to-one fast-payment linkages.
Key elements of the blueprint:
- **Speed** — payments complete within about **60 seconds in most cases**, end to end between banks in participating countries [1][1].
- **Messaging** — Nexus uses **ISO 20022** message specifications, with API specifications and implementation guides provided to scheme participants [1][1][2][2].
- **Integration point** — Nexus connects national IPS to one another; it is integrated into existing local mobile-banking and instant-payment rails rather than replacing them [1][1].
- **Governance** — the scheme is run by the NSO / Nexus Global Payments, **wholly owned by the central banks and/or IPS operators** of participating countries. The BIS provides a technical advisory role but does **not own or operate** the live system [2][2].
## Use cases
Nexus targets cross-border **retail and remittance** payments — person-to-person transfers, remittances and merchant payments that today rely on correspondent banking and take days. Because it interlinks the national IPS that already power domestic QR and proxy-addressed payments (for example, the systems behind India's UPI and the ASEAN national QR schemes), it provides the cross-border settlement leg those consumer experiences need [1][1][2][2]. The addition of the Reserve Bank of India to phase four extends the potential reach to India's **Unified Payments Interface (UPI)**, the world's largest instant-payment system [1][1].
## Implementations
Nexus connectivity is measured by membership rather than code:
- **Five founding jurisdictions** of Nexus Global Payments: India, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand [1][1].
- **Bank Indonesia** and the **Eurosystem (ECB)** as special observers [1][1][2][2].
- Even with its initial participants, Nexus could connect a market of roughly **1.7 billion people** [2][2].
- More than **70 countries** already operate domestic instant-payment systems that Nexus is designed to interlink [1][1].
## Comparison
Nexus is best understood against the **bilateral linkage** model exemplified by pairs such as Singapore's PayNow and India's UPI, or PayNow and Thailand's PromptPay. Bilateral links each require a custom integration between two systems; connecting M systems pairwise requires on the order of M² links. Nexus replaces that with a hub-and-spoke scheme where each IPS makes **one** standardised connection and gains reach to the whole network [2][2].
Nexus differs from regional **settlement** systems such as PAPSS and Buna in scope and layer: PAPSS and Buna are multi-currency clearing/settlement infrastructures for a region (Africa and the Arab region respectively), whereas Nexus is a **global interlinking standard for instant retail payments** that sits on top of existing national IPS. It is also distinct from the **ASEAN Regional Payment Connectivity (RPC)** umbrella, which coordinates predominantly *bilateral* QR and fast-payment links among ASEAN central banks rather than a single multilateral hub [1][1][2][2].
## Fun facts
- The Nexus scheme deliberately keeps the BIS out of operations: the live system is **owned by the participating central banks and IPS operators**, with the BIS acting only as technical advisor — a governance choice meant to make Nexus a sustainable public-good utility rather than a BIS-run service [2][2].
## Status
Nexus is in the **transition from blueprint to live implementation**. The phase-three blueprint was completed on **1 July 2024**, and **Nexus Global Payments** was incorporated in Singapore in **2025** to operate the scheme [1][1][2][2]. As of the most recent BIS update (the project page was last updated **27 August 2025**), partners were working toward live operation; no public transaction-volume figures had been released, as the network had not yet gone fully live in production [1][1].
## Sources
[1] [Project Nexus — BIS Innovation Hub](https://www.bis.org/about/bisih/topics/fmis/nexus.htm) — Bank for International Settlements, updated 2025
[2] [Project Nexus completes comprehensive blueprint for connecting domestic instant payment systems globally](https://www.bis.org/press/p240701.htm) — BIS press release, 1 July 2024
[3] [Enabling instant cross-border payments — Project Nexus blueprint](https://www.bis.org/publ/othp86.pdf) — Bank for International Settlements, July 2024
[1]: https://www.bis.org/about/bisih/topics/fmis/nexus.htm
[2]: https://www.bis.org/press/p240701.htm
## Deployments
Found in the following country reports (grep across `reports/countries/`):
- **MY** — [MY-malaysia.md](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/payments/MY)
- **PH** — [PH-philippines.md](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/payments/PH)
## Regions / aggregations not mapped to a single country
- Multilateral