Sponsored by the 1818 Society Global Finance Thematic Group
Payment and settlement systems and services have become vital components of the economic life of contemporary societies. Over the last decades, they have gone through several waves of reforms that have changed the landscape of the National Payments System (NPS) in virtually every country in the world.
Impressive progress has been achieved to enhance the safety and efficiency of payment services, both enabling financial institutions to exchange large-value (wholesale) payments safely through sophisticated infrastructures and allowing more and more customers to make and receive small-value (retail) payments digitally and on a nearly real-time basis. In the last few years, the frontier of payments is being pushed further ahead.
However, despite the rise of digital payments, evidence suggests that (physical) cash remains the most widely used retail payment instrument around the world. Over the years, central banks have strengthened their role in the payment and settlement space centered around their role as overseer of this ecosystem and are contributing to changing the shape of the retail payments sector. The global Fast payment “revolution” that is taking place, mainly fostered by central bank actions, and the debate on central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) are evident examples of these trends. In the latter space, a World Bank Flagship Report (Central Bank Digital Currency, A Payments Perspective, Washington, DC, December 2021) seeks to assist central banks and other relevant public authorities by providing a decision-making framework to be used as they investigate the potential use of CBDC as an instrument to strengthen or modernize their NPS.
Moreover, fast payments make funds immediately available to the payee and can be used around-the-clock, in many cases on a 24/7 basis. Jurisdictions around the world have implemented or are examining the feasibility of implementing fast payments. The World Bank, with support also from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, has developed a Fast Payments Policy Toolkit, which consists of a global fast payments tracker as well as other resources pertaining to the topic. The tracker provides updates on jurisdictions around the world (by income level and geographic region, as classified by the World Bank) that have implemented fast payments and also provides information on different implementation aspects (such as technical features, technology, access rules) for each such jurisdiction (all the material can be found at fastpayments.worldbank.org).
The session will explore both topics in a debate facilitated by some of the main actors in this space.
Session facilitated by Massimo Cirasino, former World Bank, Manager Financial Infrastructure and Inclusion
Panelists:
- Holti Banka, Senior Financial Sector Specialist, Finance, Competitiveness and Innovation, World Bank Group
- Biagio Bossone, Former World Bank Group Executive Director
- Carlos Eduardo Brandt, Pix Management and Operation, Banco Central do Brasil
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