Cross-border payment infrastructure based on distributed and centralized ledger technologies

Purpose: to develop a methodological framework for selecting the optimal technology for building cross-border payment infrastructure based on the criterion of decentralization of key financial system actors.

Methods: structural analysis of objects, a systems approach, a service approach, a method of structural-matrix analysis of concepts, a research method from general to specific, a comparative analysis method.

Results: payment institutions and infrastructure are classified as the main factors influencing the qualitative and quantitative characteristics of cross-border payments. Such characteristics can be improved by forming a cross-border payment infrastructure based on distributed ledger technology, which allows for more equal relations between its users. The features of a cross-border payment infrastructure based on distributed ledger technology include mechanisms for forming, using, maintaining identity and protecting processes, objects and data, which provide it with the required functionality. A comparative analysis with centralized data processing systems shows the advantages of using distributed ledger technology to form a cross-border payment infrastructure. The signs of a payment's cross-border nature are determined by splitting the payment into fragments and identifying pairs of payment subjects located in different jurisdictions. It has been established that a number of cross-border payment subjects may be located outside the payment space and, under certain circumstances, fail to perform their functionality. Numerical indicators of the level of a cross-border payment dependence on the actions of entities outside the payment space are proposed. A model of a decentralized cross-border payment infrastructure is constructed, containing one structural level and an integrated payment token.

Conclusions and Relevance: the proposed model can serve as a methodological foundation for the practical implementation of the task of developing cross-border payment infrastructure that ensures a sufficient level of key actors decentralization, meets the needs of economic agents in conducting cross-border payments, and possesses long-term development potential.  

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