Discover balances innovation with security in digital payments, preparing for CBDCs while enhancing cross-border transactions through partnerships. The world’s payments landscape is rapidly shifting away from cash and cheques toward digital solutions. With research showing 82% of consumers interested in instant payments and 92% of merchants anticipating significant value from these technologies, financial institutions must evolve quickly. Discover is positioning itself at the forefront of this revolution, balancing innovation with robust security measures while preparing for emerging technologies like Central Bank Digital Currencies. Tribh Grewal, Director of International Product Strategy and Business Development at Discover, says ” At Discover® Network, we are embracing technology solutions and forging partnerships to meet our customer’s needs. We have built a strong foundation through nearly a decade of continuously increasing volume and cards in force. Our model enables us to grow rapidly, help partners gain global scale and keep payments more secure and efficient for cardholders. We remain dedicated to developing strategic partnerships that enhance scale. For example, our collaboration with Fintechs like Nium, Fyorin, and Pax2pay facilitates secure and scalable global payments. Enabling new partners to issue Diners Club commercial B2B products on the Discover Network, we provide travel intermediaries with increased payment flexibility and acceptance. Additionally, we recently announced that the European mobile payment solution, Bluecode, will soon be accepted worldwide at millions of merchant locations through our network and enable local mobile wallet solutions for cross-border payments. Discover’s Enhanced Decisioning is a sophisticated fraud management solution that empowers merchants to enhance authorisation messages for Card-Not-Present (CNP) transactions by including additional customer data. This initiative allows consumers to complete purchases more seamlessly, minimising the friction caused by false declines. Merchants benefit from the system’s ability to block risky transactions while ensuring the approval of valid ones, ultimately leading to a reduction in disputes. Beyond transaction monitoring, we are also enhancing collaboration across the payment’s ecosystem. Our account management tools enable the secure exchange of information with other entities in the network — supporting acquirers in identifying and closing potential merchant loopholes. Through our High Brand Risk programme, we work closely with acquirers to identify, register, and manage merchants operating in higher-risk sectors, such as online gambling or cryptocurrency. The growing complexity of the payments landscape means that collaboration in the industry is important to reduce friction. For example, our recent partnership with Fyorin, a leading provider of financial operations solutions, enables us to offer Business-to-Business virtual cards. These virtual cards simplify cross-border transactions by reducing operational friction, lowering costs, curbing currency conversion fees, and streamlining reconciliation processes for companies active in multiple markets. Looking ahead, data and network intelligence will be central for unlocking the true potential of international payments. By leveraging advanced analytics, we can gain deeper insights into transaction flows, foreign exchange dynamics, and risk management, empowering businesses to navigate global payment complexities with confidence.