We continue to invest heavily in India GPS business, says Winnie Chen

Winnie Chen says real-time domestic payments are shaping expectations for faster, seamless cross-border transfers and stablecoin adoption

Winnie Chen, head of global payment solutions for Asia-Pacific (APAC) at Bank of America, in an interview with Subrata Panda and Ajinkya Kawale, discusses payment trends in APAC and India, and the bank’s approach to cross-border payments, among others. Edited excerpts:

 

How is the payments landscape evolving in APAC and what role is Bank of America playing?

 

When it comes to innovation and adoption, the payments landscape in Asia Pacific is more advanced than in any other region, including the US. We have witnessed significant strides in cross-border real-time payments connectivity, such as the linkage between Singapore’s PayNow and India’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI), as well as the connection with PromptPay in Thailand. While 24x7 real-time payments are increasingly important, they may not yet be a universal requirement across all the segments we serve. Currently, we operate across 12 markets in Asia Pacific. In many of these key markets, we are already active participants in real-time payment infrastructures, further demonstrating our commitment to delivering seamless and efficient solutions across the region.

 

What kind of investments is Bank of America making in APAC, especially in India, in the payments space?

 

Globally, Bank of America invests around $13 billion on technology every year. Of that, around $4 billion is specifically dedicated to innovation efforts. However, Asia, particularly India, plays a critical role in our global operations. We have a significant presence in India, and the investments we make in our payments platform here are substantial. 

 

How are you looking to grow the global payment solutions (GPS) business in India?

 

We see significant potential, especially in capturing business from the expanding network of global capability centres (GCCs). More and more companies are setting up their GCCs in India, and we are aligning closely with that trend. We are seeing multinational clients centralise treasury and payment operations in India, making the country a strategic hub for high volume, high complexity flows. The bank is focused on supporting the growth of both international clients operating in India and large Indian corporations with global aspirations. GPS business in India is among the top three globally for the bank. It’s a significant and strategic business for us. We continue to invest heavily — both in technology and people — to further strengthen and expand our capabilities in this space.

 

What kind of growth has the GPS business seen over the last few years? 

 

Our GPS business has been consistently clocking a higher double-digit annual growth in APAC over the last four years with payments and trade finance showing sustained momentum. Our non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) client segment has been one of the fastest growing categories for us in the APAC region. 

 

How do you see the cross-border payments landscape evolving, especially in the Asia-Pacific?

 

Today, most cross-border payments are processed via SWIFT, like telegraphic transfers. It works but there are challenges. Various consortiums around the world have adopted the concept of improving cross-border payments. However, actual adoption is very low or nearly zero, primarily due to a lack of interoperability. For banks to connect to these new platforms, significant investment is required, along with major workflow changes. Many banks haven’t seen enough demand to justify this investment. While there is a lot of talk and many governments or banking consortiums have formed proof-of-concept projects, execution remains challenging. The lack of clear use cases and real adoption is holding back the progress. Cross-border payments inherently involve two jurisdictions, so payments must comply with regulations in both countries.

 

When trying to connect multiple jurisdictions, the complexity multiplies. For instance, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is assessing the feasibility of settling foreign currencies on Indian payment systems. That is, by using bilateral and multilateral arrangements through global outreach of payment systems — Real-time Gross Settlement (RTGS), National Electronic Funds Transfer (NEFT), or UPI, among others. Even in cases like UPI and Singapore PayNow connectivity, there are numerous regulatory nuances that need to be navigated before it can work smoothly.

 

So, how do we solve the interoperability issue?

 

Regulators are already collaborating to establish a common framework or “common pipe” to enable interoperability. Otherwise, each bank, whether it’s Bank of America, or our peers, will have their own system. Today, SWIFT connects all banks, but it has flaws: delays, inefficiencies, and it’s not real-time. With domestic payments becoming real-time, every corporate client now expects real-time cross-border payments. However, the challenge is that regulators in different countries have different requirements. Once regulators set up common guidelines, then banks and financial institutions can follow those. It may take time because it’s not an easy problem to solve, but it remains a key focus for the industry.

 

How will alternative virtual digital assets impact the current payments network?

 

We believe the future is 24 X 7 X 365 payments that are transparent, low in friction, faster and cost-efficient. This is rapidly evolving with the rise of alternative rails such as e-wallets and real-time payments. Other disruptive trends that are emerging include stablecoins and tokenised deposits. Tokenised deposits and blockchain settlement are interesting in the way that they enable new use cases such as programmable money. However, there are challenges in interoperability with existing rails. Some banks are using tokenised cash for internal transfers, but as soon as you need to transfer to a third-party bank, it's converted to traditional rails. Bank of America is actively engaged in industry discussions around digital assets legislation and product development. Most importantly, we are speaking with clients about use cases for stablecoin. 

 

What will be the key focus areas in India?

 

We will focus on deepening our market share in India by understanding our clients’ pain points. India’s macro fundamentals are favourable. It is also becoming the nerve centre for GCCs, supply chain diversification and digital-first business models. Our approach is advisory. We are observing key trends in manufacturing and supply chain shifts—one being the “China + 1” strategy, and the other being the rising manufacturing for India itself. If India’s GDP has to double, then the country cannot remain dependent on imports. The goal for India should be to become an exporter to the world. The government’s ecosystem and infrastructure will enable multinationals to establish operations in India. As a multinational bank, we want to support them by facilitating capital flow, payments, and providing end-to-end solutions.