Payments
BIS instant payments trial to move from ‘concept to reality’
India joins Project Nexus as it prepares for “live implementation”
Hungary’s central bank orders faster action over Apple Pay glitch
Lenders deflecting customer complaints is unacceptable, says central bank
Payments Benchmarks 2024 – model banks analysis
Breakdowns of key data from the payments benchmark shed light on how the function is governed
Payments Benchmarks 2024 report – towards tokenisation
Benchmarks highlight optimism on tokenisation, hostility to crypto and efforts to upgrade RTGS
Iran to launch digital rial on Kish Island
Central bank aims to develop digital micropayments domestically
BIS and BoE launch project to simplify FX transactions
Project Meridian FX seeks to link RTGS and DLT systems
Non-banks in RTGSs: greater efficiency or more risk?
Policy-makers and practitioners from central banks in Brazil, Hungary, Israel, Romania, Rwanda and the US share their perspectives
Remittance fees unregulated in most jurisdictions despite high costs
But central banks identify opportunities in cross border payments integration
Banks are main instant payments participants
Email address is central banks’ least-used payment channel
Two in five RTGS systems experienced outage last year
Majority of central banks plan technology upgrade within a year
Around two-fifths of central banks planning instant payments
Central banks processed instant transactions with average value of over $124 billion in 2023
BIS to test automatic FX settlement in wholesale CBDC
Project will explore how interlinked payments systems can improve cross-border payments
Most central banks resistant to crypto in retail payments
Just six central banks are open to retail payments being facilitated by digital assets like bitcoin
Reserve Bank of India plans to take payments system to 20 countries
Peruvian central bank signs agreement to use India’s Unified Payment Interface
Majority of central banks increased payment system budget in 2023
Nearly half of central banks say resourcing is not sufficient
Average cost of running RTGS systems is $1.8 million
Annual costs slightly higher than last year’s benchmark
Oman central bank joins Afaq payments system
System is operated by company owned by Gulf region’s central banks
Most RTGS systems operate between seven and 12 hours daily
More than 40 institutions on average have direct access to infrastructure
Most central banks optimistic about tokenisation
Programmability, digital signatures and enhanced security are some purported benefits
Qatar to test large payments using CBDC
Central bank says it will test AI and distributed ledger technology
Slightly over half of payments teams outsource services to third parties
Contracting central banks provide information on attendant risks and precautionary measures
Payments staff strength averages close to 30 personnel
Employees in the Americas collect highest average annual salary
Fewer than half of central banks involved in pricing payments
But Asia-Pacific and African institutions are typically do engage in pricing
Cross-border payments key to boosting riel, Cambodian governor says
QR payments set to expand to India and Japan, as central bank aims for independent monetary policy