For decades, moving money across borders meant relying on a slow chain of correspondent banks. Stablecoins and crypto are now quietly rewriting that system. Joining me is Claire Barratt, Managing Director UAE at BCB Group. Claire, welcome to Wall Street to Mena.
Thank you for having me.
Correspondent banking has run cross-border payments for decades. Help us understand how that system actually works today.
Cross-border correspondent banking is set up as a network of banks to allow payments to move to and from each other globally. There are two parts to break down. First, the communication system — that is Swift, which was founded in the 1970s by banks as a standard method of communication to instruct the debit or credit on the account. Second, how the money actually moves. Think of it as a daisy chain of relationships. There are over 30,000 banks across the world — it is very unlikely all of them have direct relationships with each other. So a small regional bank in America wanting to pay a small regional bank in Germany might bank with Citibank in New York, while the German bank banks with Deutsche Bank in Frankfurt. That payment travels through a chain of four banks. And that is where delays happen — multiple operating hours, different time zones, multiple fees. It has served for a good amount of time, but it is slow.
So how are stablecoins actually replacing that system?
What stablecoins bring to cross-border payments is removing those middle steps. Less need for all those correspondent steps means it is cheaper — because each bank in the chain takes a fee — and faster. Particularly as we move to a world where customers want instant settlement 24/7, stablecoins are a powerful solution.
You went from Wells Fargo to Revolut to BCB. What made you make those jumps?
I spent ten years at Wells Fargo, a leading US correspondent bank. I learned a great deal there. But when you work for an organisation of 250,000 people, it is very difficult to have a direct impact on the customer. I was approached to join Revolut in 2019 — my first step into fintech. Fintechs at that time were severely disrupting banking in the UK, bringing innovation, shipping products fast, and becoming much more transparent around fee structures. That was interesting to me. I have stayed in fintech because, particularly as a leader in this space, you can have a much quicker and more direct impact on customers and on bringing innovation to market.
BCB Group is not trying to replace banks — you are just replacing the settlement layer?
Correct. We are not replacing banks — we partner with many banks globally. BCB is effectively an infrastructure layer providing institutional-grade rails that are compliant, instant, and capable of global settlement. We do not face retail customers. We face corporates and institutions. We have a network of almost 20 tier one banking partners, and through that we offer a single product covering up to 36 currencies — including full interoperability between digital assets and fiat.
The UAE and Southeast Asia are seeing the strongest stablecoin growth. What is driving that specifically?
Those trade corridors have always existed — it is not new flow. What is changing is that people are recognising the benefits of stablecoins and leveraging the new technology rail. The UAE has very strong and robust regulatory frameworks that have been in place for some time. Southeast Asia has similarly strong jurisdictions like Singapore with the Monetary Authority. Institutions can feel confident using stablecoin technology in these markets because they know it is a safe and compliant way to move funds globally.
Does stablecoin access actually level the playing field for smaller tier two banks against bigger ones?
A little. It removes some of the layers of complexity and charges that exist in the current model. But the payments space remains highly regulated — the cost to operate here is high compliance and high regulatory maintenance. Stablecoins remove some of the infrastructure cost. But tier two banks still face those ongoing compliance and regulatory requirements regardless.
Why was the UAE the priority market for BCB's expansion?
The UAE is a major global financial hub, and BCB focuses on high-regulatory jurisdictions where it is tough to get licensed — we are currently regulated in the UK, France, and Switzerland. The UAE has the same characteristics we look for. Digital assets and stablecoins are critically important to this region and there are clear rules of operation. The UAE is attracting corporates and institutions from all over the world, and those will be future BCB customers once we are fully licensed here.
If correspondent banking eventually disappears entirely, what replaces the trust the whole system was built on?
Banks have been seen as the trusted organisation for decades. I hope a world exists where both systems operate in parallel — I do not think correspondent banking will entirely disappear. But what is happening is a shift: other players, including infrastructure layers like BCB and stablecoin issuers, are emerging as trusted participants in strong regulatory jurisdictions. That gives customers clarity on what is a safe and compliant place to operate.
Thank you so much for being here with us, Claire.
Thank you for having me.
