India: Recent Developments in Payment and Settlement Systems

The Indian payments industry has witnessed remarkable growth, innovation and regulatory support over the last few years. Consequent to the demonetisation of high-value currency notes of ₹500 and ₹1000 in November 2016, the evolution of the digital payments…

Colombia: New Regulation for the Low Value Payment System

Based on the experience and regulations of other countries, such as the United Kingdom, Singapore, and Brazil, Decree 1692 of 2020 sets a new architecture for the low value payment system in Colombia. It adds objectives and principles for the operation…

El Salvador: Perspective on the Development of the Financial System, With an Inclusive Approach and Use of New Technologies

The Covid-19 pandemic made evident the situation of exclusion to digital financial services that characterises El Salvador. The government faced this problem in its first year in office. Food delivery services increased, but only with the use of cash…

In Conversation with Sheila Warren

Central bank digital currencies (CBDC) and stablecoins captured the headlines in 2020, with central banks ramping up their research and pilot projects and the first issuance of a retail CBDC. What sort of developments can we expect in 2021? CBPN caught…

Releasing a National Strategy for Retail Payments in Portugal: Foresight of Medium-Term Evolution

The launch of Banco de Portugal's National Strategy for Retail Payments | Horizon 2022 represents the start of a new phase: implementing a wide range of initiatives to modernise the national market and payment habits within the next two years.

National Bank of Tajikistan Takes Payment System to New Level

In 2015 and under new management, the National Bank of Tajikistan (NBT) started to implement a series of fundamental reforms in the country’s banking and insurance sectors, including payment systems. Thus, in order to strengthen the future development…

Argentina: Open Payments and Universal Access, Using a Functional Approach

Instant payments are now fully available across any institution in Argentina, bank or fintech, thanks to a comprehensive overhaul of the Argentine Electronic Fund Transfers regulation published in October 2020. The initiative aims to deliver 1500…

Albania—Chasing the Financially Excluded

Chasing excluded populations that don’t have access to financial services, which add up to around 60% of adult population, is considered to be crucial in addressing the heavily cash reliant economy in Albania and an important key to unlocking opportunities…

Lithuania: Building a Fintech Success Story from a Regulatory Point of View

The ongoing technological transformation in the sphere of financial services has not only improved financial services themselves but also created new opportunities for countries willing to attract innovation. In recent years, Lithuania has emerged as…

BIS - Regulating Fintech: Many Approaches for Many Challenges

New tech-savvy players are entering the financial market left and right. The way they provide financial services would not be possible without the advances in financial technology we have witnessed in recent years. But traditional financial institutions…