In many countries with instant payment systems (IPSs), payments can be addressed using “proxies” (or “aliases") in place of Account Identifications. A proxy (or alias) is any string of text that can be linked to a specific bank account. Commonly accepted proxies include:
Mobile phone numbers
Email addresses
National ID numbers
Company incorporation numbers
Nexus allows cross-border payments to be addressed using proxies. In principle, any proxy that is valid for domestic payments should also be valid for Nexus payments. (This is dependent on the relevant proxy service provider being onboarded and connected to Nexus.)
This guide assumes that each Instant Payment System has one – and only one – corresponding proxy directory. This is the case in most countries. However, in the euro area and the USA there may be multiple IPSs and multiple (often competing) proxy directories. This raises a number of complications that will be addressed in a future phase of development.
Different countries support different types of proxies. The table below shows some examples.