A new report from Money20/20 and FXC Intelligence, titled ‘How will North America’s money move in the future? A 2025 view of 2035,’ indicates that North America is poised for a significant payments transformation, with 97% of fintech experts anticipating moderate or significant changes to the region’s cross-border infrastructure over the next decade. The study, released in conjunction with Money20/20 USA 2025 in Las Vegas, forecasts that total cross-border payments volume for the Americas will rise from $8.8 trillion in 2024 to $13.1 trillion by 2032, driven by rail modernization and policy changes across the region.
Micky Tesfaye, Head of Audience Development at Money20/20, commented on the findings, stating, ‘The payments landscape, especially in North America, is undergoing a tremendous shift. We’ve been anticipating these changes for years, but now with the policy green light on stablecoins and the drive for real-time infrastructure from mainstay financial institutions, the next decade’s worth of changes and integrations will finally manifest. The race to capture the $13.1 trillion market is on, and it’ll be a full-on tech sprint.’
The report highlights several key areas of anticipated change. A significant 71% of experts expect the shift in North America to be more substantial than in Europe or Asia. Optimism for stablecoins as a critical technology is highest in North America at 59%, surpassing Asia (30%) and Europe (39%), largely attributed to the recent passage of the GENIUS Act in the U.
S. Furthermore, 91% of experts identify real-time payments as a critical technology for regional development, citing momentum from systems like FedNow and Canada’s upcoming Real-Time Rail upgrade.
Business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C) payments currently account for 86% of the Americas’ cross-border payments volume, with over half of experts (52%) expecting B2B payments to see the most significant improvements in North America. The study also underscores that addressing infrastructure challenges, which are expected to become more fragmented rather than simpler, will necessitate extensive collaboration. A strong majority of 86% believe that partnerships and cross-organization collaborations will be vital for tackling sector challenges.
Regarding the drivers of future development, 45% of experts anticipate a collaboration of various entities, outpacing expectations for single organization types like fintech startups (23%) or banks (11%). Daniel Weber, CEO of FXC Intelligence, noted, ‘The data clearly shows the industry is embracing interoperability, with 80% calling it very or extremely important. The winners in this new era will be those that master API-driven connections and collaboration to seamlessly integrate traditional, real-time, and stablecoin rails.’
The full report is available for download, offering further details on these forecasts and expert insights.
