The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development has issued nonbinding guidance to help jurisdictions improve transparency in retail cross-border payments and remittances and meet the G20 Roadmap objectives. It calls for consistent consumer protections across providers, payment instruments and distribution channels, supported by clear disclosure before execution of total transaction costs, foreign exchange rates and markups, expected delivery times, payment tracking and terms of service. The guidance covers retail cross-border payments below USD 100,000, excluding remittances, as well as typically low value personal remittances. The review found broad but uneven coverage across 41 jurisdictions. Cost transparency requirements exist or are being developed in 90% of jurisdictions for retail cross-border payments and 88% for remittances, while only 39% and 37%, respectively, have or are developing payment tracking requirements. The OECD recommends stronger oversight and international cooperation, standardized comparison tools, financial literacy measures and complaint arrangements that make the sending payment service provider the consumer’s single point of contact. Where costs or delivery times cannot be determined upfront, providers could disclose clearly identified estimates and improve their accuracy over time.
2026-09-23OECD
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development issues guidance on retail cross-border payment and remittance transparency following review of 41 jurisdictions
The OECD has issued nonbinding guidance calling for consistent transparency standards across retail cross-border payment and remittance providers, instruments and channels. Providers should disclose total costs, foreign exchange charges, delivery times, tracking information and service terms before execution. A review of 41 jurisdictions found widespread cost disclosure rules but substantial gaps in payment tracking and consistent market coverage.