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Improving the cost, speed, access and transparency of cross-border and cross-currency payments is a global priority – crystallised in the G20 Roadmap launched in 2020. Among its key pillars is the move towards instant cross-border payments. One of the initiatives driving this forward is the European Payments Council’s (EPC) One-Leg Out Instant Credit Transfer (OCT…

As Sibos arrived in Frankfurt this year, it felt like a coming-of-age story. After years of speculation and pilots, the conversation around headline technologies like AI and stablecoins seemingly shifted from theory to execution – how these technologies are being applied in real, regulated environments to improve efficiency, transparency, and security. AI is now powering…

The Instant Payments Regulation (IPR) – which entered into force in spring 2024 – represents one of the most significant recent shifts in Europe’s payments landscape. The first milestone in January 2025 required payment service providers (PSPs) to be ready to receive instant payments, and the next major step comes on 9 October 2025, when…

Running successful payments operations demands many of the same qualities needed to excel in sport: performance, endurance, reliability, routines and constant training. And just like in team sports, success in payments requires both the ability to fiercely compete and to closely collaborate. Sometimes, however, in an effort to raise standards, an authority or governing body…

From 9 October, PSPs in the eurozone will be mandated to implement Verification of Payee (VOP) for all Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) Credit Transfers and Instant Payments. While this represents a potentially significant leap in combating authorised push payment (APP) fraud, PSPs also face considerable pressure to meet a long list of obligations. Indeed,…