Building a cross-border payment capability requires deep knowledge of correspondent banking, payment rails, regulatory frameworks and operational infrastructure. Steven Faulkner has spent 30 years building exactly this — at HSBC, JPMorgan Chase and across his own ventures in Africa and Asia. Every engagement is personal.
Speak to StevenInternational payments sit at the intersection of banking relationships, regulatory compliance, technology infrastructure and operational complexity. Getting one element wrong creates cascading problems across all the others.
Access to the correspondent banking network is the foundation of cross-border payments. Banks are increasingly de-risking and exiting correspondent relationships — making it harder for new entrants and smaller institutions to maintain the connections they need.
Selecting the right payment rails for each corridor — SWIFT, SEPA, local ACH networks, real-time domestic systems — requires a detailed understanding of each network's cost, speed, reach and compliance requirements.
Every corridor carries its own regulatory requirements — from the FCA Payment Services Regulations in the UK to FINTRAC in Canada and central bank requirements across Africa and Asia. Non-compliance is not an option.
Cross-border payments involve foreign exchange at every step. Managing FX exposure, sourcing competitive liquidity and optimising settlement requires both market knowledge and strong banking relationships.
Agnos Consulting was founded in 2005 by Steven Faulkner. His career spans tier-1 institutions and frontier payment networks across four continents.
Established sub-custody services across Eastern Europe — building the infrastructure and banking relationships underpinning HSBC's regional securities services network.
Managed global payment networks and coordinated legacy system consolidation involving USD 10 trillion in transactions — one of the largest payments transformation programmes of its era.
Implemented Equity Direct, recognised by the World Bank as the first instant cross-border account-to-account remittance service to East Africa.
Deployed mass payment solutions enabling real-time transactions across the NIBBS system to 30 million bank accounts across Nigeria.
Every assignment is scoped personally with Steven Faulkner. There is no standard package — because no two payments businesses face exactly the same challenge.
Assessment of your existing payment infrastructure — correspondent relationships, rail connectivity, technology stack and operational processes — with a prioritised improvement plan.
End-to-end support for entering a new payment corridor or jurisdiction — regulatory mapping, bank partner identification, technical integration and compliance framework.
Objective assessment of payment service providers, correspondent banks and technology vendors — matched to your specific corridor requirements and volume profile.
Large-scale payment infrastructure modernisation — from legacy system migration to ISO 20022 adoption, real-time rails integration and API-first architecture.