Ximena Aleman is co-founder and co-CEO of Prometeo, an open banking and financial infrastructure platform operating across Latin America.

The latest wave of U.S. tariffs may be aimed at protecting national interests, but its ripple effects are once again reshaping global markets — and accelerating a shift that few policymakers are talking about: the reinvention of cross-border payments.

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Tariffs may dominate the headlines, but they’re only part of the story. Behind the noise, financial infrastructure is quietly being stress-tested — and exposed. Every added layer of friction, whether through trade policy or payment delays, forces a hard look at how money actually moves across borders. From rising corporate transaction costs to revived discussions around taxing remittances, the pressure is building on outdated systems — and accelerating the push for faster, programmable alternatives.

In July, the U.S. imposed a 50% tariff on copper imports, prompting a double-digit price surge and signaling a broader hardline trade agenda. Inflation ticked upward. Investors braced for retaliation. Brazil’s stock market, heavily tied to copper exports, posted modest losses. And while headlines focused on commodities and trade flows, another sector quietly adjusted to the shock: payments.

Like previous protectionist measures, these tariffs are creating friction across the global financial system. When trade slows, and costs rise, companies can’t afford to let their money move slowly too. Legacy payment rails — like SWIFT and correspondent banking — weren’t built for speed, cost-efficiency, or transparency. According to the World Bank, cross-border payments still take more than one day to settle and cost over 6% on average, which disproportionately hurts emerging economies.

But this moment of volatility is also forcing progress. In Q1 2025, Mastercard reported a slowdown in cross-border transaction growth amid tariff-related uncertainty. Meanwhile, stablecoins — blockchain-based digital dollars — saw a surge in volume. By February, over $710 billion in stablecoin transactions were processed globally, up nearly 40% year-over-year. And 99% of all stablecoin volume is now denominated in U.S. dollars, underscoring their rise as a de facto alternative for cross-border value transfer.

Major players have taken notice. Circle expanded its cross-border Payments Network just weeks after this spring’s first wave of tariffs. Coinbase introduced x402, a new stablecoin-native protocol enabling autonomous AI agents and APIs to pay each other instantly online—citing the slowness of credit cards and wire transfers as key barriers to growth. And now, even banks like Citigroup and Bank of America are preparing to issue their own stablecoins, anticipating both customer demand and regulatory clarity.

This shift mirrors past moments of transformation. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Latin America leapfrogged years of financial evolution in mere months. In Colombia, digital wallet users grew from 1.8 million in 2019 to over 18 million by 2023. The catalyst wasn’t convenience, but rather necessity. Regionally, 60% of payments are now digitized, up from just 30% pre-pandemic

We’re seeing the same dynamic today. Tariffs are unintentional accelerants — forcing financial institutions to adopt smarter, faster infrastructure. Programmable payments. Multi-currency processing powered by AI. Instant FX conversion and liquidity management. The tools that once sat on innovation roadmaps are now deployment priorities.

As geopolitical pressures mount, financial resilience depends on modernization. Policymakers may be focused on trade and manufacturing, but the real stakes lie in infrastructure: how money moves, settles, and scales across borders. The global economy cannot afford payment systems that lag behind the pace of commerce.

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Tariffs will come and go. But the systems that emerge in response will shape the next era of economic connectivity. We’ve seen how crises can accelerate innovation. The question now is: who will be ready? This is an opportunity to upgrade the wiring behind global trade. If payments don’t evolve to meet the moment, they’ll keep holding back the very systems they’re supposed to support. Now is the time to act.