As global payments continue to expand in both scope and complexity, Gauthier Jonckheere, Head of Treasury Services, EMEA Growth and Sales Strategy for BNY, examines how financial institutions (FIs) can stay ahead in an increasingly real-time, always-on environment.
Client expectations are evolving across the financial landscape, with growing demand for seamless, transparent and increasingly real-time payment experiences — a shift that is reshaping the global payments ecosystem.
This is placing a significant strain on FIs and their partners, who must constantly adapt to stay ahead. Meeting these expectations requires strategic investment across the entire payment ecosystem — in infrastructure, technology and operational models — to deliver the speed, efficiency and transparency clients now expect.
New Payment Rails and Real-Time Payment Infrastructure
A key driver of this growing complexity is the surge in new payment solutions and initiatives taking shape across the industry. In Europe, regulators are pushing ahead with new measures, including the Instant Payments Regulation, which requires payment service providers (PSPs) that offer credit transfers to also support instant credit transfers.1 Alongside this, the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) One-Leg Out (OLO) scheme — which extends SEPA credit transfers to payments where only one party is located within the SEPA area — also aims to accelerate the uptake of instant payments and improve cross-border connectivity.2
There is also growing pressure on the global cross-border payments industry — from commercial banks to clearing houses — to drive enhancements. In November 2020, for example, G20 leaders issued a roadmap setting ambitious targets to significantly improve the speed, cost, accessibility and transparency of cross-border payments by 2027.3 These efforts focus on three pillars: enabling payment system interoperability and extension, fostering an efficient legal, regulatory and supervisory environment, and promoting greater messaging standardization.4
Yet while the industry continues to launch innovative new payment rails and initiatives to improve both domestic and cross-border payments, the task of retiring legacy systems has proved far more difficult. It means that improvements are being built on a fragmented infrastructure, where new technologies and platforms are layered over decades-old systems. This, in turn, is motivating payment innovation while also creating technical challenges and stretching operational resources.
In the background, the current geopolitical landscape is introducing a new layer of complexity to an already intricate process. Heightened regulatory scrutiny and sanctions that vary by jurisdiction are necessitating more rigorous compliance checks and transaction monitoring. Currency volatility and fluctuating exchange rates are also affecting transaction costs and settlement times. Given these growing challenges, banks are faced with navigating an increasingly complex environment.
Addressing Payments Complexity Across Ecosystems
It is no longer just a question of adopting the latest technologies — resilience and relevance also depend on choosing partners who can support payments transformation strategies and long-term adaptability in response to shifting market demands.
As real-time payment speeds increase, institutions must also rethink their approach to liquidity management, with real-time liquidity management becoming key to remaining competitive and meeting client expectations for speed and transparency. Central banks and clearing houses are exploring 24/5 and 24/7 operating models to support this shift, but for the full benefits to be realized, both bank and client infrastructures will need to evolve to support round-the-clock operations.
Meanwhile, the market itself is consolidating. The rising cost of innovation and the pressure to scale quickly have triggered a wave of mergers and acquisitions, underscoring the importance of aligning with partners who can offer the combination of scale and the latest capabilities to meet changing client demands.
As FIs consider where to invest their resources, the focus should be on areas that will differentiate them in a crowded marketplace. Instead of attempting to build everything themselves, institutions are learning to leverage partnerships with established players who can provide the infrastructure, networks and capabilities needed to gain a competitive edge.
Going Forward
Navigating the evolving global payments landscape requires more than just adopting the latest technologies — it demands strategic partnerships, agile infrastructure and a forward-looking approach to liquidity and risk management. As client expectations shift toward seamless, real-time and transparent payment experiences, financial institutions must invest in scalable, interoperable solutions that bridge legacy systems with innovative payment rails. By leveraging trusted partners with deep expertise and global reach, FIs can unlock new efficiencies, enhance operational resilience and stay competitive in an increasingly complex, always-on world.
1“Instant Payments Regulation,” European Central Bank, March 2024, https://www.ecb.europa.eu/paym/integration/retail/instant_payments/html/instant_payments_regulation.en.html
2“One-Leg Out Instant Credit Transfer,” European Payments Council, May 2025, https://www.europeanpaymentscouncil.eu/what-we-do/epc-payment-schemes/one-leg-out-instant-credit-transfer
3“G20 Roadmap for Enhancing Cross-border Payments: Consolidated Progress Report for 2024,” Financial Stability Board, October 21, 2024, https://www.fsb.org/2024/10/g20-roadmap-for-enhancing-cross-border-payments-consolidated-progress-report-for-2024/
4“G20 Roadmap for Enhancing Cross-border Payments: Consolidated Progress Report for 2024,” Financial Stability Board, October 21, 2024, https://www.fsb.org/2024/10/g20-roadmap-for-enhancing-cross-border-payments-consolidated-progress-report-for-2024/
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