“We are not the trendsetters, we are the fast followers.”

Rising demands for resilience, programmability, and interoperability are reshaping financial market infrastructures (FMIs). At Sibos 2025, in the session “Inside Leadership: FMIs of the future – Adapting to an ever-changing financial landscape”, representatives from Swift, the European Central Bank, the Saudi Central Bank, the South African Reserve Bank, the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey, and EBA Clearing discussed how FMIs are adapting to technological transformation, regulatory reform, and growing risks from fraud and cyber threats.

Abdulaziz Abanmi of the Saudi Central Bank emphasised the responsibility to balance innovation with stability. He argued that multiple methods of payment will make the system more resilient. At the same time, he warned that FMIs should avoid tech-for-tech’s sake: payments must start with a problem statement, then the right technology can be applied.

Programmable payments

For Ahmet Buǧday from the Central Bank of Turkey, central bank digital currencies are meant to complement, not replace, existing rails. “We already have a fast payment system. But CBDC brings circulation of central bank money in digital form 24/7, which strengthens resilience.” He explained that the focus in Turkey is on programmable payments rather than programmable money: “One of our lessons has been to focus not on programmable money but programmable payments. This enables conditional or periodic transactions and creates new service opportunities.”  

Evelien Witlox of the European Central Bank described similar priorities for the digital euro project, emphasising that end-user needs must come first. She pointed to a recent experiment with around 100 market participants testing programmable payments, noting their potential to make everyday life easier. “The infrastructure facilitates only part, it really facilitates the reservation of funds, but the conditional part is really for the private sector to innovate,” she said. For such payments to succeed, “there needs to be standardisation on, what you call a scheme, a rule book, to really make sure that everybody knows how it works … not for standardisation per se, but really to facilitate that the parties can reach each other.”

Fraud

From a clearing perspective, Hays Littlejohn of EBA Clearing pointed to fraud as the most pressing challenge in instant payments. “Fraud is growing faster here than in credit transfers or cards.” While technology such as AI and machine learning can help, he reminded the audience that it must be paired with governance to be effective.

Looking from Africa, Nomwelase Skenjana of the South African Reserve Bank noted the tension between caution and opportunity. “Regulators are slow adopters, but we cannot ignore technological advances,” she said, before highlighting the regional reality: “So we are not the trendsetters, we are the fast followers.”

Ultimately, the panel circled back to the one element that underpins it all. As Buǧday concluded: “The most fundamental driver is trust. Trust is anchored in central bank money as the safest settlement asset.”