Transforming Payments for the Real World: Industry Insights in 2024

The third annual Central Bank Payments News supplement features insightful perspectives from six leading players in the global payments ecosystem who are working closely with central banks to spark genuine transformation in payments.

AfricaNenda: Key Trends Shaping the Instant Payment Systems Landscape in Africa

The instant payment systems (IPS) landscape in Africa is vibrant, propelled by the growing need for faster, interoperable, more secure, more affordable, and more convenient retail payment options. As of 2023, there were 32 live public or public-private…

RTGS.global: Why Cross-Border Payments in Opportunity Markets are Ripe for Disruption

At RTGS.global we recently facilitated a series of frictionless cross-border payments and settlements between a group of progressive institutions in three rapidly growing markets: Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Georgia. This saw five banks, across three separate…

AfricaNenda: Digital Payment Access is Steadily Increasing. What Barriers Remain?

The instant payment ecosystem in Africa continues to show increased dynamism, as the number of instant payment systems (IPS) expands and more transactions run through them, as documented in the State of Inclusive Instant Payment Systems in Africa 2023…

Central Bank of Iceland's Journey in Instant Payments and Cannibalization of RTGS Payments

Iceland's journey in the realm of instant payments is historic, dating back to 2002 with the initiation of the Central Bank of Iceland's large value payment system, SG, followed by the introduction of the instant payment system, JK, in 2003. These systems,…

Al Etihad Payments: Aani Instant Payments Platform - Redefining UAE's Financial Landscape

The Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates is actively pursuing digital innovation through the Financial Infrastructure Transformation (FIT) Programme. Among other key objectives, the FIT Programme focusses on driving financial inclusion, promoting…

VOX DEI: The Criticality of Consumers’ Voices in the Development of CBDC

The emerging consensus that consumer acceptance is a critical success factor in a CBDC deployment compels countries at all stages of CBDC development to align their designs closely with consumer needs and expectations. These insights can only be established…

Towards Digitalising Payment Systems for Financial Inclusion in South Africa

South Africa is considered by many to be a dual economy where a large percentage of the population live in poor conditions in rural areas, and another significantly large percentage are wealthy and live in urban areas. Many of the people that live in…

In Conversation with Igor Velickovski, Manager, Payment Systems Department, National Bank of the Republic of North Macedonia

Our tour of the Western Balkans continues this month as we catch up with the National Bank of the Republic of North Macedonia’s Igor Velickovski, who discusses the transformative role of a recently enacted law on payments, North Macedonia’s SEPA ambitions,…

Madagascar: Financial Inclusion of Vulnerable Populations in Rural Areas Through Savings Groups

Various projects aimed at promoting the financial inclusion of vulnerable populations have developed savings group models. A savings group consists of 15 to 25 people who choose to form the group together and set aside money which they will then use for…