International Payments Course

Lesson 1 • The Global Payments Ecosystem

Maps the full network of banks, intermediaries, and infrastructure that enables cross-border value transfer. Establishes the vocabulary used throughout the course.

Lesson 2 • Core Payment Instruments

Surveys wire transfers, checks, drafts, and card-based instruments used in international trade. Connects instrument choice to cost, speed, and risk trade-offs.

Lesson 3 • Currency and Exchange Rate Basics

Introduces spot rates, bid-ask spreads, and how exchange rates are quoted in interbank markets. Provides the foundation for understanding FX risk in later chapters.

Lesson 1 • SWIFT Network and Message Types

Covers SWIFT's architecture, BIC addressing, and the most common MT and MX message categories. Learners map message types to real payment scenarios.

Lesson 2 • ISO 20022 Data Richness and Use Cases

Examines how richer structured data in ISO 20022 improves straight-through processing and compliance screening. Demonstrates practical benefits over legacy formats.

Lesson 3 • Interbank Messaging Fundamentals

Explains how standardized messages carry payment instructions between financial institutions. Grounds learners in the logic of structured data before examining specific formats.

Lesson 1 • Nostro Reconciliation and Exception Handling

Teaches systematic reconciliation of nostro statements against internal ledgers and resolution of breaks. Builds operational accuracy essential for treasury and operations roles.

Lesson 2 • Nostro and Vostro Account Mechanics

Explains how nostro and vostro accounts are opened, funded, and used to settle cross-border payments. Learners distinguish the two perspectives and trace entries through both ledgers.

Lesson 3 • Correspondent Banking Relationships

Defines the contractual and operational basis of correspondent banking and why banks choose specific partners. Sets the stage for account management and liquidity topics.

Lesson 1 • Spot and Forward FX Transactions

Explains spot settlement conventions, forward point calculation, and how forwards lock in future exchange rates. Connects forward pricing to interest rate differentials.

Lesson 2 • FX Market Structure and Participants

Describes the decentralised FX market, its trading sessions, and the roles of market makers, brokers, and corporates. Provides context for pricing and execution decisions.

Lesson 3 • FX Swaps and Cross-Currency Swaps

Covers the mechanics of FX swaps used for short-term liquidity and cross-currency swaps for long-term hedging. Learners distinguish their cash flow structures and use cases.

Lesson 4 • FX Execution and Best Execution Standards

Examines execution methods, transaction cost analysis, and regulatory best-execution obligations for FX. Learners apply benchmarks to evaluate execution quality.

Lesson 1 • Documentary Collections

Explains documents against payment and documents against acceptance collections and their risk profiles. Contrasts collections with LCs to guide instrument selection.

Lesson 2 • Bank Guarantees and Standby Instruments

Covers demand guarantees, performance bonds, and standby LCs used to secure trade and project obligations. Learners distinguish instrument types and drafting requirements.

Lesson 3 • Letters of Credit

Covers the structure, types, and document examination process for commercial letters of credit under international banking rules. Learners draft compliant presentations.

Lesson 4 • Supply Chain Finance Techniques

Introduces receivables financing, payables finance, and dynamic discounting as tools to optimise working capital in trade. Links these techniques to payment flows covered earlier.

Lesson 1 • Sanctions Screening and Controls

Explains how sanctions lists are maintained, how screening engines work, and how to handle alerts and false positives. Learners configure and evaluate screening controls.

Lesson 2 • Correspondent Banking Due Diligence

Details the enhanced due diligence process for onboarding and monitoring correspondent bank relationships. Addresses the compliance drivers behind de-risking decisions.

Lesson 3 • Regulatory Framework for International Payments

Surveys the global regulatory bodies, standards, and obligations that govern cross-border payment compliance. Provides the compliance context for all subsequent sections.

Lesson 4 • AML Transaction Monitoring

Covers rule-based and behavioural monitoring models used to detect suspicious payment patterns. Connects monitoring outputs to suspicious activity reporting obligations.

Lesson 1 • Operational Risk and Controls

Applies operational risk frameworks to payment processing, covering segregation of duties, dual controls, and fraud prevention. Learners design a control matrix for a payments team.

Lesson 2 • Straight-Through Processing Design

Identifies the data quality, format, and enrichment conditions required for full automation of payment processing. Learners map STP failure points and design remediation controls.

Lesson 3 • Cut-Off Times and Settlement Windows

Explains how network cut-off times, time zones, and value dating rules affect payment execution and liquidity. Learners schedule payments to meet deadlines across time zones.

Lesson 4 • Payment Lifecycle Management

Traces a cross-border payment from initiation through settlement and reconciliation, identifying each operational touchpoint. Establishes the process baseline for optimisation work.

Lesson 1 • Open Banking and API-Driven Payments

Explores how open banking frameworks and payment APIs enable new cross-border payment products and embedded finance. Learners design API integration scenarios for payment use cases.

Lesson 2 • Real-Time Cross-Border Payment Initiatives

Examines multilateral real-time payment linkages, central bank initiatives, and their impact on correspondent banking. Learners assess readiness requirements for real-time cross-border adoption.

Lesson 3 • Strategic Payment Transformation Planning

Synthesises course learning into a framework for evaluating and prioritising payment modernisation investments. Learners build a business case for a cross-border payment improvement initiative.

Lesson 4 • Central Bank Digital Currencies

Covers wholesale and retail CBDC designs and their potential to transform cross-border payment infrastructure. Learners evaluate CBDC interoperability models and policy implications.