Sibos 2026: Cecilia Tamez on the Future of Cross-border Payments

At Sibos 2026, Cecilia Tamez shared Dandelion's perspective on one of the payments industry's most pressing challenges: how to connect a fast-growing range of payment systems, schemes and endpoints without sacrificing visibility, traceability or compliance.

Speaking at Sibos, Cecilia explored what meaningful interoperability requires, why the last mile remains central to delivering a seamless customer experience, and what the future could hold for an increasingly diverse payments ecosystem.

The destination has changed

In the past, cross-border payments typically meant moving funds from one bank account to another. Today, the destination has been expanded to digital wallets, cards and accounts, often outside the traditional banking sphere. While connectivity between financial institutions has improved through different developments, fragmentation has increasingly shifted to the last mile.

Getting money into a country is only part of the challenge. Providers must also deliver it to the recipient in the format they use, at full value and with the speed and transparency customers now expect from domestic instant payments. Meeting that standard requires direct connections to local payment methods, validation before funds move and compliance capabilities adapted to each market.

Standards and aggregation must work together

As more countries launch instant payment systems and regional schemes, building bilateral connections between every network is not a sustainable answer. Preventing further fragmentation depends on two complementary approaches: common standards that allow networks to speak the same language, and aggregation that enables an institution to integrate once and reach many destinations.

Standards (such as ISO 20022) provide richer data and support stronger pre-validation and screening. But standardization alone does not resolve the endpoint-specific requirements that vary across markets and payment methods. This is where aggregation becomes essential: an orchestration layer can absorb those differences and give banks and fintechs access to multiple local endpoints without requiring a separate integration for each one.

From connection to ongoing orchestration

Dandelion brings more than 35 years of experience building direct-to-local connections to banks and fintechs. Institutions can reach the network through an API or a Swift instruction, extending an existing Swift connection to wallets and cash payout without adding a new integration project.

The real cost of fragmentation is not simply connecting to a new scheme. It is maintaining that connection as fields, rules and endpoint requirements change. When every institution manages those changes independently, the industry pays a fragmentation tax. Aggregation shifts that burden to a single layer built to manage complexity at scale.

Making the economics of the last mile work

All this technology is mature, and there is broad willingness across the industry to collaborate. Yet access to less commercially attractive destinations can still be constrained by the economical aspect. Major corridors may justify a direct investment, while a rural wallet may not be as viable for a single institution.

Pooling volume across multiple senders changes that equation. It can turn an underserved destination into a viable corridor and expand access for customers globally. Thus, effective collaboration needs clear governance, trust and a business model that supports sustainable reach.

Designing for an "invisible" payment experience

Asked to describe the future of payments in one word, Cecilia chose "invisible." The goal is an experience in which customers no longer need to think about the payment itself because both the on-ramp and the off-ramp work seamlessly in the background.

That future is unlikely to be built on a single global rail. Instead, it will combine real-time payment systems, digital wallets embedded in local ecosystems, modernized existing networks and new settlement and liquidity options. Future-proofing is therefore less about predicting which technology will win and more about creating an architecture without rebuilding the operating model.

Connecting the on-ramp and the off-ramp

The discussion at Sibos reinforced a clear direction of travel: greater diversity in payment methods does not have to mean greater complexity for financial institutions or their customers. With common standards, aggregated local access and an orchestration layer built for ongoing change, the industry can reduce fragmentation while extending reach.

Swift provides the on-ramp for banks. Dandelion provides the off-ramp to the wallets, cards, bank accounts and cash payout points people use around the world. Bringing the two together is how cross-border payments become more connected, more inclusive and, ultimately, invisible.

Want to explore these trends in more detail? Get our latest white paper for a deeper look at the forces reshaping cross-border payments and what they mean for the industry's future.