The push towards 24/7 settlement is gathering pace, but moving money instantly is only part of the challenge. For the benefits of continuous settlement to materialise, the wider financial infrastructure needs to move with it. That was a central theme the Sibos 2026 panel 24/7/365 settlement: real need or technology hype? explored whether 24/7 settlement is a genuine business need or simply technology hype.
For some parts of the financial industry, the business case is already emerging. Zachary Chestnut, managing director at J.P. Morgan, said high-velocity money movement has become increasingly important for payments companies, banks, capital markets firms, asset managers, digital asset businesses and large corporates.
“In situations where money is the business, Connexus has quickly become table stakes,” he said.
Faster does not mean cheaper
But faster settlement does not necessarily mean lower costs across the system. Tim Karpoff, strategy & corporate development leader at Motive Partners, pointed to intraday liquidity as one example. Moving from batch settlement to real-time gross settlement reduces some liquidity needs, but can create new pre-funding requirements elsewhere.
“It just means it has to come elsewhere, and you have to solve that problem in a different way,” he said.
The same issue applies to the asset side of a transaction. If cash can settle instantly but the underlying security remains on a traditional settlement cycle, the overall transaction is still constrained.
“If the asset side of a transaction is not happening in the same way, you’re not getting true DVP,” Karpoff said.
Money ecosystem
That is where tokenisation could become more significant, but the panellists argued that it will not be about a single form of digital money replacing everything else. Stablecoins, tokenised deposits and central bank money each have different roles, and connecting them will be critical.
“They will all coexist, and they will all be a part of the money ecosystem,” said moderator of the panel Simon Taylor, head of Market Development at Tempo.
The question, then, may be less whether 24/7 settlement is coming and more whether the infrastructure around it can keep pace.
Sibos 2026 plays out in Miami from 28 September to 1 October. We are there, view our coverage here.
