The risk profile of cross-border payments has shifted significantly over the past several years. What was once primarily an operational challenge — moving money accurately and on time — has become a multidimensional risk exercise shaped by volatile trade flows, more sophisticated fraud, and a fragmented regulatory environment.
As businesses support more currencies, countries, and payment rails than ever before, resilience is no longer defined by speed alone. According to Scott Johnson, Vice President of Technical Program Management at Convera, it’s defined by agility, disciplined FX risk management, and the ability to operate securely across jurisdictions without sacrificing customer experience.
Scott Johnson on resiliency: Flexibility and FX hedging in volatile global trade
Shifts in tariff policy, supply-chain realignment, and geopolitical risk have made it harder for companies to predict where future payment flows will land or which currencies will matter most over time. In Johnson’s view, this uncertainty makes flexibility a strategic requirement.
More currencies and markets mean more FX exposure, especially when businesses price goods or services before paying for the underlying inputs. In those scenarios, FX volatility can quietly erode growth prospects long before finance teams realize there is a problem.
Instead, Johnson recommends that businesses prioritize disciplined budgeting and proactive hedging. Rather than reacting to FX moves, companies should proactively establish budget rates at the start of the year and build hedging strategies that allow them to operate confidently within those parameters.
“The real power of our forwards and options* is that they allow customers… to set a budget rate for, say, USD/euro at the beginning of the year, and then to build a strip of forwards and options that enable them to realize that budget rate,” Johnson says.
By stabilizing FX outcomes, companies gain the confidence to respond to competitive pricing pressure while protecting their cash flow.
Scott Johnson: Addressing the increasing sophistication of AI fraud
While FX volatility threatens growth prospects, fraud increasingly threatens trust. Johnson notes that fraud in cross-border payments is becoming both more frequent and more subtle, driven largely by advances in AI.
For example, fraudsters are increasingly targeting payment providers’ customers through realistic invoicing schemes. These attacks exploit the complexity of cross-border payments, where different data requirements, unfamiliar banking formats, and time pressure can make fraudulent instructions appear legitimate. Phishing emails, fake invoices, and spoofed supplier communications are no longer riddled with obvious errors. They’re polished, localized, and convincing — often tailored to specific regions or currencies.
“That space is moving so fast… even the fraud experts, I think, are struggling to keep up with this,” Johnson says. What’s more, once funds move across borders, recovery becomes even more difficult. For Johnson, this means fraud management cannot be confined to internal controls alone. Providers must also help customers recognize risk earlier through education, validation tools, and smarter workflows.
Navigating the patchwork of anti-fraud regulations: NACHA, VoP, and PSD3 with Scott Johnson
Globally, new anti-fraud frameworks are emerging with similar objectives but different implementation requirements. The result is a growing patchwork of rules that cross-border payment providers and their customers must navigate carefully.
Johnson describes the current moment as one of interpretation and adjustment, particularly as large regulatory initiatives begin to take shape. In Europe, Verification of Payee (VoP) is already changing payment behavior, while Payment Services Directive 3 (PSD3) is expected to raise expectations even further.
“PSD3 is probably going to set the bar for how other countries think about anti-fraud,” he says. “We’re starting to see a patchwork of regulations emerge around fraud or rules through bodies like Nacha in the US that generally have the same intention, but sometimes have different implementation approaches.”
As regulators race to keep up with the rapidly evolving cross-border payment landscape, Johnson says providers must design systems that can absorb regulatory change without creating excessive friction for customers who operate across multiple jurisdictions simultaneously.
Scott Johnson on Convera’s advantage: Depth of network and fintech agility
Built and maintained over decades, Convera’s global banking network — over 50 local bank partners and more than 500 bank accounts — allows it to support a wide range of currencies and markets with speed and reliability. At the same time, by offering sophisticated FX hedging products, such as forwards and options, Convera demonstrates a level of compliance maturity and balance-sheet strength that many fintechs lack, Johnson says.
With payment providers playing such a critical role in today’s financial operations, longevity is equally important. “Trust is built over time,” Johnson says. “Customers want to know their provider will still be there through the next cycle of volatility, regulation, and market change.”
*Convera’s hedging products are derivative financial instruments which may expose you to risk should the underlying exposure you are hedging cease to exist. They may be suitable if you have a high level of understanding and accept the risks associated with derivative financial instruments that involve foreign exchange and related markets. If you are not confident about your understanding of derivative financial instruments, or foreign exchange and related markets, we strongly suggest you seek independent advice before deciding to use these instruments.
