Debopama Sen

Cross-border payments are undergoing their most significant transformation in decades, driven by stablecoins, tokenized deposits, real-time payment rails, and regulatory shifts across major jurisdictions. For banks, stablecoins are no longer a theoretical innovation—they are becoming a strategic question of infrastructure, liquidity, compliance, and customer ownership.

This executive panel will debate what a “winning” cross-border model looks like in 2026 vs. 2030, and how stablecoins and on-chain settlement models are reshaping cross-border payments economics, market structure, and competitive dynamics. Panelists will explore whether banks should issue, integrate, partner, or compete with stablecoin providers—and how to modernize cross-border strategies to balance speed, cost, control, and regulatory accountability in a rapidly evolving global payments landscape.

Cross-border payments will be real-time, programmable, and global by default. The strategic question for banks is not whether stablecoins will be part of that future—but whether banks will define the rails, or simply ride on them. Discussion points will include:

• Why correspondent banking and SWIFT alone are no longer competitive
• Cost, speed, transparency, and liquidity challenges in legacy models
• How stablecoins and tokenized cash change settlement economics
• Issuing bank-backed stablecoins vs. tokenized deposits vs. integration strategies
• Balance sheet, funding, and liquidity implications
• Customer trust and regulatory treatment differences
• Fintechs, Big Tech, and crypto-native firms in global payments