/payments

News and resources on payments systems, innovations and initiatives worldwide.

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Latest news

[Webinar] Real-Time, Cross-Border and Domestic Payments Routing: The Single Rail Competitive AdvantaFinextra Promoted[Webinar] Real-Time, Cross-Border and Domestic Payments Routing: The Single Rail Competitive Advantage
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Expert opinions

Aaron Holmes

Aaron Holmes CEO at Kani Payments

The Payments Journey: From Complexity to Clarity

When I first entered the payments space nearly two decades ago, reconciliation was seen as a manual slog filled with pain points. Back then, teams spent countless hours buried in spreadsheets, trying to trace transactions, spot mismatches and make sense of what should be a straightforward process. While technology has moved on, the core issues st...

/payments /regulation

Joris Lochy

Joris Lochy Product Manager at Intix | Co-founder at Capilever

UPI’s Free Ride: A Masterstroke - But Can It Last?

Already 2 years ago, I explored in my blog "The UPI Phenomenon: From Zero to 10 Billion" (https://bankloch.blogspot.com/2023/09/the-upi-phenomenon-from-zero-to-10.html) how India’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI) reshaped the digital payments landscape. UPI has grown into one of the world’s largest digital payment systems, processing o

/payments /retail Payments strategies 2015-2020-2030

Brandon Spear

Brandon Spear CEO at TreviPay

How B2B Payments Will Shape Growth and Trust in 2026

Finance leaders have always shouldered the responsibility of managing cash flow, reducing risk and keeping customer relationships intact. But in recent years, the pace of change in B2B payments has accelerated as buyer expectations evolve and new technology reshapes how companies transact. What was once a back-office function is becoming a strate

/payments /predictions Frictionless Payments

George Davis

George Davis CEO at Fuse

How Virtual IBANs Unlock Local Payments in MENA

Moving money into MENA has traditionally been slow, opaque and expensive. Cross border payments often involve multiple intermediaries, high fees and long settlement times. For international companies, this creates friction when collecting and sending local payments at scale. Virtual IBANs (VIBANs) offer a modern way to navigate this complexity. B

/payments /markets 5G Payments Schemes and Strategies 2020 - 2035

Sam Boboev

Sam Boboev Founder at Fintech Wrap Up

Deep Dive: Embedded Finance for SaaS Platforms: What It Means and Why It Matters

Embedded finance is the practice of weaving financial services directly into software products and platforms. In other words, non-financial apps and marketplaces let users access bank accounts, payments, lending, insurance or other financial tools without leaving the app they already use. This idea may sound daunting, but it’s rapidly becoming a ...

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Research

Event Report

Faster & further: 2025 insights on the evolution of the Nordic payments landscape

What's shaping Nordic payments? As NextGen Nordics 2025 unfolded in Stockholm, Sweden, there was a keen sense of discussion and debate. In particular, the conversation focused on how the Nordic region has been evolving to meet the intersection of instant and cross-border payments. As a discussion, some remained optimistic and positive about the efforts made, whilst others were less impressed and more cynical about the region’s ability to meet regulatory deadlines and improve its readiness.  Sourced from FinextraTV interviews filmed at the event, this report helps to break down some of the key talking points. From the impact of fraud on faster cross-border payments to the inability of banks to catch up to customer expectations, this report guides you through the (sometimes clashing) consensus on Nordic payments progress.  Discover:  Why cross-border payments demands outpace banks;  How digital first players are reshaping the industry;  How the Nordics are maintaining instant payments progress;  The necessity of strong safeguards;  And more.    Save the date for NextGen Nordics 2026 in Stockholm – Tuesday, 28th April 2026  Get involved – Register your interest here. 

67 downloads

Survey

Payments 2030: What’s shaping the future?

Assessing the global state of payments modernisation in our latest Finextra survey. As we approach 2030, the payments landscape is transforming faster than ever. Many financial institutions across the world are on a digital transformation journey, investing in new technologies. However, many are held back by legacy systems in a world where speed, resilience, and reliability are critical.  Finextra Research, in association with ACI Worldwide, surveyed 162 global industry leaders in the summer of 2025 to reveal how organisations are aligning their payments strategies with market and regulatory demands, the challenges they face, and the technological and operational shifts shaping investment decisions.  Input from leaders at The Clearing House, Deutsche Bank, and the US Faster Payments Council reinforce both the significant progress made and the critical work ahead. As financial institutions navigate ongoing shifts in the payments landscape, modernising cloud and infrastructure capabilities has become central to delivering real-time, resilient, and scalable services.  Download this Finextra survey report, produced in association with ACI Worldwide, to discover:  Current and predicted cloud adoption trends;  Instant payment plans and adoption timelines;  A2A payment growth forecasts;  Readiness for rising digital payment volumes;  Budget priorities for compliance vs innovation;  Innovations set to disrupt the payments ecosystem; and  Strategies for navigating regulatory pressures such as ISO 20022. 

487 downloads

Future of Report

The Future of Cross Border Payments 2026: Strategies for Success

A special edition for Sibos Europe 2025 The pace of the financial industry is unrivalled. The cross-border payments landscape is rapidly evolving and maturing as emerging technologies develop, new regulations come into play, fraud dominates, and global consumers demand instant payments.  How is the industry responding to these changes, and what strategies are banking experts and leaders deploying to combat the onslaught of challenges as the future draws nearer? Sibos 2025 in Frankfurt will be a forum for conversation on the next steps for the financial sector, and how to conquer the next frontier of global finance.  This Finextra report analyses key innovations, explorations, and sentiments on the cross-border payments landscape, featuring key insights from Absa CIB, BNY, Crown Agents Bank, Commerzbank, the Financial Conduct Authority, FV Bank, HSBC, ING, Januar, JP Morgan, National Australian Bank, RBI, Santander, Société Générale, Standard Bank, Standard Chartered, State Street, and ZA Bank. It discusses:  Agentic AI and GenAI revolutionising cross-border payments;  The implications of a post-ISO 20022 migration world;  How banks are future-proofing their cross-border payments frameworks;  Financial crime and fraud prevention in payments;  The digital transition to cloud native infrastructure;  Challenges and opportunities in instant payments;  How rapidly emerging technologies will define the future of cross-border payments. 

596 downloads

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FinextraTV

The Future of Digital Commerce: Preparing for an always-on, AI-powered world

Joining the FinextraTV studio at Mastercard's RiskX event in Rome, Craig Vosburg, Chief Services Officer at Mastercard discussed how a global economy that thrives on interconnected devices and AI is ripe for increasingly sophisticated cyber threats, and how organizations can prepare for this future with an always-on security approach and effective partnerships.

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Events

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Long reads

Hamish Monk

Hamish Monk Senior Reporter at Finextra

Could FX strategies be a game-changer for corporate treasurers?

With the macroeconomic outlook seeming more unpredictable than it has in years, the foreign exchange (FX) market is experiencing considerable volatility. Shifting trade policies are proving a notable headwind – driving liquidity and working capital challenges, as well as geopolitical uncertainty. Fortunately, there are opportunities to be seized a...

Hamish Monk

Hamish Monk Senior Reporter at Finextra

What is API standardisation?

Application programming interfaces (APIs) are a millennial innovation opened out to the financial sector through a series of open banking regulations – the first instalment of which, the Payment Services Directive, was introduced in 2007. APIs transport requests – in the form of data – from one system to the other, informing the provider what the...

Sehrish Alikhan

Sehrish Alikhan Reporter at Finextra

Top payments stories you missed in August 2025

Summer is almost over – catch up on Finextra’s top payments stories from August, here. UAE closes in on launch of Digital Dirham The Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates (CBUAE) will soon launch the retail and wholesale central bank digital currency (CBDC), the Digital Dirham, to licensed financial institutions. Having been in the pipeline for ...