In today’s Finance Pulse, gain insight into how:

• Stablecoins are shifting from cross-border hype to domestic “plumbing,” with real-economy payments around $375B and cross-border share falling as banks roll out local-currency tokens.

• Bank requests for proposal (RFP) can reveal digital maturity through what they don’t ask, with missing focus on data migration and internal stakeholder tradeoffs often predicting implementation pain.

• Payments leaders in 2026 are prioritizing reliability over price in cross-border, while stablecoins and agentic AI reshape the playbook.

Each of these articles is penned by members of Forbes Finance Council, key luminaries shaping the future of finance.

Stablecoins’ Next Act: Less “Cross-Border,” More “Across Town”

Stablecoins may be famous for global money movement—but real-world usage is increasingly local. While on-chain stablecoin settlement hit ~$33T in 2025, identifiable real-economy payments were closer to ~$375B, with a meaningful shift toward domestic flows.

What’s driving the pivot: 

📌 Stablecoins as “Dollar Accounts,” Not Transfers: In volatile-currency markets, people want to hold dollars at home and spend locally.

🌍 Local-Currency Tokens on the Same Rails: Real-, yen- and euro-linked initiatives (often tied to regulated frameworks and instant-pay networks) are emerging as domestic settlement tools.

🏢 B2B is the Biggest Real-Payment Use Case: Faster finality, weekend/holiday settlement, and easier treasury movement matter inside borders, too.

What finance leaders should do next: 

• Audit domestic settlement friction (cutoff times, trapped cash, reconciliation workload).

• Treat regulated stablecoins as treasury infrastructure, not an “innovation team” experiment.

• Track local integration signals (instant-pay linkups, licensing, bank-led tokens).

Read The Full Article > 

Read the RFP Like a Diagnostic, Not a Checklist

RFPs don’t just select vendors; they reveal how well a bank understands its own architecture, risks, and execution path. The biggest signal isn’t what’s asked…it’s what’s missing.

The key tell: Mature teams ask narrow, technical questions (API limits under load, version control in production, reconciliation edge cases). Less mature teams lean on broad templates (“Describe your security framework”), signaling they’re buying reassurance more than capability.

Three “silences” to watch for: 

🧳 No Data Migration Detail: Often the real source of budget and timeline blowups in core banking programs.

🧰 No Post–Go-Live Operating Model: Weak focus on support, upgrade cadence, and true 5–7 year total cost of ownership.

⚔️ No Visible Internal Tension: The best RFPs show competing priorities (risk vs. digital vs. ops). A single “voice” can mean alignment hasn’t happened yet—and will surface mid-implementation.

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Payments in 2026: Reliability, Stablecoins & “Interoperability” Everywhere

The loudest fintech conversations in 2026 aren’t about splashy launches—they’re about what actually fixes payments at scale.

Here’s what’s driving the next wave: 

⏱️ Cross-Border Shifts from Price to Reliability: As pricing converges, customers care most about whether funds arrive on time. The BIS found only 55% of wholesale/remittance and 35% of cross-border retail payments are credited within an hour—well below a 75% target.

🪙 Stablecoins Move from Innovation to Infrastructure: Real-economy stablecoin payments hit ~$390B in 2025, dominated by B2B, even as headline on-chain volumes are far higher due to trading/automation.

🤖 Agentic AI Heads Toward Real Financial Actions: The industry is exploring standardized APIs/frameworks so AI assistants can securely initiate tasks like paying bills or moving money—while raising new privacy, security, and compliance questions.

🔗 Interoperability Isn’t a Buzzword, It’s the Workaround: In a fragmented global ecosystem without a true SWIFT replacement, connecting banks, wallets, and A2A rails is the path to making global payments feel local.

Read The Full Article >

Wrapping Up

If these articles sparked your interest, we have a network that you will absolutely love: Forbes Finance Council.

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