G20 Roadmap for Enhancing Cross-Border Payments: Scorecard Report on Direct Access and Price Transparency (Wise)

Summary

• Eight G20 members achieved the highest score of 5/5 for direct access of non-bank payment service providers (NBPSPs) in 2025.p.10
• US consumers are projected to lose $19 billion in obscured FX markups in 2025, potentially rising to $46 billion by 2027.p.11
• Australian consumers are projected to lose nearly $4 billion in hidden cross-border payment fees in 2025 following a score downgrade to 1/5.p.11
• FX markups in India typically range from 0.5% to 3%, contributing to an expected $7 billion in total losses for Indian consumers and SMEs in 2025.p.16

Key insights

1. The G20 cross-border payments roadmap is currently not on track to achieve its target goals for 2027.p.2
2. The European Union upgraded its direct access score to 5/5 after amending its Settlement Finality Directive.p.10
3. The United States was downgraded from 4/5 to 3/5 in price transparency following the CFPB's rescission of its guidance on deceptive marketing.p.11
4. Australia was downgraded to 1/5 for price transparency due to its voluntary guidance failing to mandate foreign exchange markup disclosures.p.11
5. Non-bank payment service providers in India cannot directly access the UPI scheme and must partner with commercial banks.p.15
6. In August 2025, the Reserve Bank of India issued a circular mandating exchange rate fee disclosures at the invoice issuance stage.p.16