Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BofA Merrill) is launching Accelerated Payments to Asia, a solution that aims to improve the speed and efficiency with which banks and corporations make high value US dollar (USD) payments to Asian markets. 

The service is designed both for global institutions that send commercial payments to beneficiaries in Asia and for Asia-based institutions whose trade within the region is denominated in USD. 

The current options for banks or corporations to circumvent the time zone delays when making U.S. payments to or within Asia come with complications. For instance, local offshore mechanisms in different countries require companies to hold accounts, thereby fragmenting their liquidity and creating operational complexity. Another alternative, leveraging branch networks, can add delays since a payment made to a bank’s head office can take several days to reach the end recipient. 

Accelerated Payments to Asia currently captures more than 1,000 different Hong Kong and Greater China-based beneficiary banks and branches, and will be expanded over time to incorporate USD clearing systems in other Asian markets.