Mastercard and Infosys team up to modernize cross-border payments

A strategic integration aimed at speed and security

In a move that reads like a blueprint for the future of international finance, Mastercard and Infosys have announced a collaboration designed to simplify and accelerate cross-border payments for banks and other financial institutions around the world. At its core is the integration of Mastercard Move, a broad family of money movement services that reach thousands of banks across more than 200 countries and over 150 currencies, with Infosys Finacle, the digital banking solution set developed by Infosys’s EdgeVerve unit. The idea is simple on paper but potentially game-changing in practice: give financial institutions a fast, pre-integrated path to offer sophisticated, global payment capabilities without the usual, labor-intensive bespoke IT projects.

• Mastercard Move’s reach is expansive: more than 200 countries in scope and 150 currencies supported, aiming to serve a vast slice of the world’s banked population.
• Integrating Move into Finacle should let banks bypass lengthy onboarding cycles and pricey integration work, letting them bring modern cross-border services to customers sooner.
• The immediate benefit for banks is a quicker time-to-market with enhanced control over risk, liquidity management, and cost structures. For customers, the payoff is more reliable, transparent remittances and a smoother user experience.

By embedding Mastercard Move into Infosys Finacle, banks gain a plug-and-play capability rather than a bespoke, rebuild-from-scratch project. This aligns with a broader industry trend: simplifying back-end processes so banks can focus on delivering value to customers rather than wrestling with integration hurdles.

Why this matters: cross-border payments have long been a friction point for banks and end users, often bogged down by heterogeneous rules, correspondent banking constraints, and slow settlement times. The new approach aims to tighten the loop from initiation to settlement, with more predictable timelines and clearer visibility for all parties involved.

The AI angle: security, compliance, and smarter operations

A subtle but important thread running through the collaboration is the role of artificial intelligence in creating a more secure, intelligent payments ecosystem. Infosys has positioned itself as an AI-first digital transformation partner, and Finacle’s Data and AI Suite (part of Infosys Topaz) gives banks the ability to build and deploy AI models—no-code options, pre-trained models, and rapid deployment capabilities included. This suite — designed to address everything from customer service to risk analysis — makes the integrated solution more immediately usable for institutions eager to experiment with AI without building bespoke AI from scratch.

• No-code and pre-trained AI models can accelerate use cases from fraud detection to customer inquiry handling, potentially lowering time-to-value for AI-enabled payments enhancements.
• The AI-driven approach is expected to extend to cross-border risk management, enabling more granular monitoring of transactions for suspicious activity while staying aligned with regulatory requirements.

Mastercard’s own experimentation with AI in its payments network adds confidence to this set-up. The company has touted AI-driven fraud detection, real-time transaction analysis, and rapid risk scoring to identify unusual patterns and protect both cardholders and merchants. When embedded into an integrations-ready platform like Finacle, these capabilities could translate into real-time risk scoring and automated compliance checks along the cross-border path.

• Mastercard reports improvements in fraud detection speed and accuracy through AI, helping to identify compromised cards and at-risk merchants faster.
• The collaboration envisions embedded AI-powered risk management as a standard feature of the cross-border payment channel.

Security, compliance, and the path to trust

In international transactions, ensuring compliance is as critical as speed. The combination of Mastercard’s network, Finacle’s banking backbone, and AI-enabled oversight aims to deliver end-to-end controls that help institutions detect illicit activity—such as money laundering—in real time, while also navigating a dense matrix of global regulations.

• Real-time monitoring and risk scoring can offer near-immediate signals that prompt investigation or automatic halting of suspicious flows.
• Automated compliance features may simplify regulatory reporting and reduce the manual burden on banks, potentially lowering operating costs and enabling tighter liquidity management.

The practical upshot is a payments channel that’s not only fast but also smarter about risk. For consumers, that could translate to fewer encryption headaches and more consistent, transparent experiences when sending money across borders. For banks, better risk controls mean lower capital costs and improved trust with counterparties and regulators alike.

Market implications and the path forward

What Mastercard and Infosys are proposing isn’t just a new feature; it’s a blueprint for how large incumbents and technology firms can co-create more resilient, AI-forward payment rails. The alliance signals a broader trend in financial services where IT modernization, AI capabilities, and global reach come together to reshape the economics of cross-border payments.

• The integration could shorten the time-to-market for banks upgrading their international payments offerings, helping them meet rising demand for near real-time payments from businesses and consumers alike.
• Asia’s prominence in remittance flows, which accounted for a sizable share of global inflows in 2024, underscores the importance of scalable, low-friction cross-border rails.
• By leveraging Mastercard’s network effects and Infosys’s platform breadth, the combined solution could set a new degree of standardization for onboarding, security, and operational efficiency across multiple markets.

While the exact financial terms and rollout timelines weren’t disclosed in the initial announcement, observers note that the design prioritizes speed, interoperability, and AI-augmented risk controls. If successful, the model could become a reference for other fintechs and banks exploring similar pre-integrated, AI-enabled payment ecosystems.

A closer look at what’s changing for banks and customers

• What changes for banks:
  • Faster onboarding to a global payments framework with pre-integrated components.
  • A unified view of risk, liquidity, and compliance across cross-border transactions.
  • Access to AI-ready tools that can be deployed to meet evolving regulatory expectations.
• What changes for customers:
  • More predictable settlement times and better visibility into payment status.
  • Fewer surprises in fees and exchange rates thanks to more efficient processing.
  • Stronger security with AI-backed fraud detection and real-time monitoring.

This collaboration doesn’t promise a magic wand, but it does show a practical path toward modernizing the backbone of international commerce. It’s the kind of partnership that makes you think: if two behemoths with complementary strengths lean into AI and pre-integration, maybe cross-border payments won’t be the bottleneck they’ve historically been.

If the pilot phases prove out, we could start seeing banks rolling out enhanced cross-border services to corporate and consumer clients in the near term, with AI handling more of the decision-making and compliance work behind the scenes. The end result would be a more efficient, secure, and transparent experience for everyone involved in international trade, from the smallest remittance sender to the largest multinational.

Conclusion

In a climate where speed, security, and transparency in global transactions are increasingly non-negotiable, Mastercard and Infosys are betting that a combined AI-enabled platform is the right move. By weaving Mastercard Move into Infosys Finacle and layering AI-driven risk management atop the mix, the partnership aspires to shorten onboarding, reduce costs, and elevate the overall reliability of cross-border payments. Whether you’re a bank executive weighing a modernization project or a customer who relies on international money transfers, this collaboration is a reminder that the future of payments may lie less in reinventing the wheel and more in stamping it with smart, AI-powered momentum.

Cited sources and context: The article discusses how Mastercard Move’s cross-border reach, the Finacle platform, and Infosys AI capabilities synergize to streamline onboarding, enhance security, and drive near real-time payments globally. It also notes Mastercard’s AI deployment for fraud detection and real-time risk assessment, and Infosys’s AI-first strategy and Data and AI Suite within Finacle. See for reference: Mastercard Move, Finacle integration, and AI-driven risk management as described in the original report. [Sources](https://vertexaisearch.cloud.google.com/grounding-api-redirect/AUZIYQEMZuypiqEZIdUX57Y8RqJb-YRfy7UMu4ADbE5WCzSVNSQC1yWMswH61_VHWZZLw1xPnttioI-gpniSHAim5zj0OjdBgrBKwrCEDblZpV8qaqF_cEWrYa07CgZz9qAvAK07aBPgn9GIfLiPZ4eqaMd1Jwk=, https://vertexaisearch.cloud.google.com/grounding-api-redirect/AUZIYQHcPIAUCDSyJqFxzqO8_wI7zuzizNrkqYJtZiYNWBXfIBMUvsQcQpuCMp3dhiUemZR97p3js3Yy8yrY-m_D8jmlqe0tgPWt0y5T0edZY4IDUl0oqP2FeaJxuLiU3XzfyK_caZkby81oldsYzTKiYkzizbShn7Xp9-WpQcCSRXx8jd5NE7Ww, https://vertexaisearch.cloud.google.com/grounding-api-redirect/AUZIYQFzVt4HZ3u_OrWNREShLevD50n7KOfY6qPt8Vap5j5r4OcWYoT4Qbht2EpBbO_I_EJC4MhVgJLXrbsz1rmsg65OdKiPBBbM7wW0Y1EEorbhEfPFVh-7XfOxpijncpVfEINstHdqssM1XOQe-njNJg0VdXQlBucUaNEaNEaYf2eZllYwyMKJEvCZQuClVDz3yZhv2wgoc8Wcn6B8vwOohvJmH2yfypGS8uPZkZm5SlpYlQlmcRnZoU_y0Jn0r6MZ0ybofBVeA==, https://vertexaisearch.cloud.google.com/grounding-api-redirect/AUZIYQHUmjjtlZLj8z-n_8y6kFx34K2lniaoHEO6idmoDfnxRDD0upcyPatKTim-hnNdC7nB4nLZhhmiWHuvC2NG1Z1QP8E9R9IBN3hcxogKqyNlrC3zryeu0nZt85wamntETN2wjCcty1in-cghnoikTLOMFtV1vGeGd-sN2c30PhR_Vyipj-iOcnkkZTDkQF10q-7dcW0BMQE9iYfwNON77_i2c1IrGwnnp-QH5kNCJTkDvSJJSo7Lzfc=, https://vertexaisearch.cloud.google.com/grounding-api-redirect/AUZIYQF4i2PAeUt33s7KO7RbzyQov-jeTufg0dnKF37Br_uwjDj6hHBH7vRCjoEFMQm1ZH6dgXKSmuHswfx4vxoyuxZtRIC4wGW2PVaBUnNUGCTgdLSMxWB7LDXsQ4gQZLyf53TyoaHk5NHgJJ34NVrtK2Bvvjs4VjF7IpeulQYX6PddDdDkaw==, https://vertexaisearch.cloud.google.com/grounding-api-redirect/AUZIYQFoHp3dzqz0k6huf82uIvqFzvydug5mqmMZQXQqQuRSDOxZUFEOqMpuhjzXcBrh34zXUu_ru5z6XmDABeuQdeSR_4uMwcUw6B3qb1JuI7JgHyx8CC2ioa3_dqfngVWsfLvU5WCSVUNTRpLXYqlrB-BWHXxGJIfk3x7Rr1o7PiwKSoo1tcXAt9C1KYc7S00OIxBDbz0sVhK7zS5Fm8g0SvqH76Em7acj51wCn6gZYmkg3Yhr9Uj5nvaJLcy7lvs=, https://vertexaisearch.cloud.google.com/grounding-api-redirect/AUZIYQEt_zj3P2qUz6Fo7jQSD_93bp1AE3Fj-NeuhyPAgbLWz5SxPqpNmSComZ-XoFQBwhAMiO1p634tXhNbuOGd742a9nFAFHwhDDBKYCQG_GZY7xNcKB12xzaPcKUAhZqv0wbKUzygyFZgnWklkSnOglIOBYnFmtu3RiorSJ0ViPka5ncYUCZkn94rlT_Sr9HXISgMFsDW7PrHw4dEHtKHuGypearAjKFkDtKL6OfrOrARA5cQ, https://vertexaisearch.cloud.google.com/grounding-api-redirect/AUZIYQFz6Mr2y719_wh_hZydzR3LfydPCQF0CBotYePV6BGOkoPlFLYzrHtblLdYJJ2VGnxr4GCNYv20ejZV4xX951Sni-jeUTPko9YmUe06ys8P98j--nkx3R_AWyuZnhlcWizjiB9B7FrdVLW0jwYU5ryGcoIO-ODKl_VOHfWXK0pg84ENQ3Cd1CqbRYI-8PDLNc-W5N6OIb1tU87lJ5fSoKVwRh__Hl8SQXNloEZwJjQRCtTWmB9bcvDlFJG-SvK7ByishJpc, https://vertexaisearch.cloud.google.com/grounding-api-redirect/AUZIYQEt_zj3P2qUz6Fo7jQSD_93bp1AE3Fj-NeuhyPAgbLWz5SxPqpNmSComZ-XoFQBwhAMiO1p634tXhNbuOGd742a9nFAFHwhDDBKYCQG_GZY7xNcKB12xzaPcKUAhZqv0wbKUzygyFZgnWklkSnOglIOBYnFmtu3RiorSJ0ViPka5ncYUCZkn94rlT_Sr9HXISgMFsDW7PrHw4dEHtKHuGypearAjKFkDtKL6OfrOrARA5cQ, https://vertexaisearch.cloud.google.com/grounding-api-redirect/AUZIYQEcyUa8sEe7qO80IrcuuENpZzqFRL9CUM--8nA5rMS9v5T2WW1N4eIBn3MpGY6vBgZM7EMseOev9hsuIsYWZIu1TTBovpAO9PCRi0jnrWK_00pGYVi-fLvjyDz_IetTMpn-V3jFTyloauQ44vqjsGVoHV0lYrmdWLQc3Vls6FQS0Q==, https://vertexaisearch.cloud.google.com/grounding-api-redirect/AUZIYQFXWQVaHiHLlChJMMcc__zyggN209CifEcXvhLLf38WEhT83sXojLfOZbYv8wzIA5CAgO9Dzz8V0Ewd9VKYSSvdsdgG5Homo_LTgTF2W-zJ_XqaRid8Et9-UGLFXvjNLXKnspUvQxm8DtgHzbyD-48_jY0H8EtAeT-jGwCRJhTGtdD-OxFS3YrwfExfGbnENZlcJhhqZTXN5C-ooRYmVhIWN6qXmbsYFSYB8rON1IUCOjFPUuPiOXBydL7F1VwUqKiSB-E8-BPM-_3zxw==, https://vertexaisearch.cloud.google.com/grounding-api-redirect/AUZIYQEcyUa8sEe7qO80IrcuuENpZzqFRL9CUM--8nA5rMS9v5T2WW1N4eIBn3MpGY6vBgZM7EMseOev9hsuIsYWZIu1TTBovpAO9PCRi0jnrWK_00pGYVi-fLvjyDz_IetTMpn-V3jFTyloauQ44vqjsGVoHV0lYrmdWLQc3Vls6FQS0Q==