EBAday 2025: What's next for instant payments?
Two expert panels at EBAday 2025 explored what makes an effective implementation plan, the persistent global and regional challenges, and the growing benefits of instant payments.
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Future proofing instant payment adoption
In the panel session 'Instant payment adoption: future-proofing our business', speakers Antoine Cuypers, director strategic alliances & key accounts, Intix; Daniel Stanton, managing director & global head of transactional FX - cross border RTP and clearing - global payment solutions, Bank of America; Jonny Keir, head of payments execution, NatWest Group; Kevin Flood, head of European growth office, FIS; and Sophie Giorgi, head of payment systems and infrastructure relationships, Crédit Agricole, discussed what constitutes a good implementation plan for instant payments, moderated by Jude Pinto, chief delivery officer, Payments Canada.
Pinto began by posing a question to the panelists on the starting points that had to be overcome for adoption. Cuypers mentioned the regional discrepancies in adoption, 'there's a bit of discrepancy between adoption in different regions, interpretation on adoptions, different rulebooks etc, there are regions really looking into the cross border elements, whereas other regions are purely focused on their own domestic payments'.
Flood highlighted the impact of regulations on the push for innovation in Europe. 'I don't want to wait for something to clear out. I don't want to wait for my transport transaction or the movement I want to see. I think regulations help push it. I think some of them open up opportunities'.
Giorgi further commented, 'after the success of the SEPA, they really wanted to launch a new payment which would be real time and now the regulation is coming, we are on the way, and I think next year we will see the success'.
On the importance of customer trust, Keir explained 'from a national payments provision perspective, there's a huge focus around customer choice. You can have the best technology in the world, but unless you have a customer proposition that is embedded, that is state of literary, that is low friction, then you won't.'
Stanton then emphasised the consumerisation of client expectations, 'adoption and interest is really being driven by customer demand and supply, what we refer to as the consumerisation of client expectations. We are all consumers as individuals, and we have this instant gratification aspect to who we are, so instant access of information, instant availability of value.'
The panel concluded on the need for data sharing to facilitate collaboration among financial institutions, summarising the importance of producing payments in a secure and relevant manner.
The advantages of instant payments
The following panel 'The advantages of instant payments', was moderated by Christophe Vergne, Europe market development executive payments, Capgemini. Speakers included: Andrea Pennacchia, head of banking and PA solutions, Nexi; Conor Colleary, senior vice president, Oracle Financial Services; Elena Gomez, managing director UK and Europe and domestic payments head, Citi Services; Helena Forest, executive vice president - global product & commercial - real time payments, Mastercard; and Martin Runow, head of European product TxB, Goldman Sachs Bank Europe.
Vergne kicked the session off on emerging market success stories. Forest highlighted Thailand as a successful market example with strong government support and the introduction of digital ID for interoperability.
Forest further commented, 'what we've learnt from the 12 markets we support today is there isn't one solution that fits all. Countries are at a different starting point of their journey. They pursue a slightly different agenda as part of that adoption, and operate in different regulatory as well as just general ecosystems when they started this journey. All these factors play a significant role in the success criteria needed to secure growth.'
From a European perspective, Gomez explained: 'It's incredibly important the network is able to support volumes that are 24/7 and fully reliable, as reliable as the other rails already in work. Obviously the demands of instant payments are very different to the demands of batch payment, so these roles are incredibly strong at a clearing level and also at a bank and individual operating level.'
Although banks face challenges in adapting to instant payments, Pennacchia viewed this as a valuable opportunity to upgrade systems, with regulation being used a tool: 'I see, and we see in our clients, this is an opportunity because instant payment is now very important for banks, so investments are upgraded. This is the opportunity for banks to launch or relaunch the evolution of their payment systems. I think rules sometimes help and force the market to change,' said Pennacchia.
Vergne moved the conversation onto the importance of merchant adoption, and the need for seamless integration of instant payments with existing systems.
Colleary highlighted the importance of embedding instant payments within ERP systems, 'bring the service to where your customers are, not just at the merchant, but embedding the service within ERP systems to allow instant payments directly from where they're actually doing their business.'
Runow emphasised the challenges of changing legacy systems: 'If I get a better service for the same price, naturally, I'll take the better service, but if the better service involves changing the core of my suppliers and data setup, it becomes a different story. With corporates and corporate treasurers, change management, resources, IT budgets, are very precious. The more high tech and fast growing the company, the less the Treasury function gets any of that money, so changes are hard work, as an industry we see a lot of inertia.'
Finally, Verge concluded with the importance of understanding specific market contexts: 'There is no one future solution, no silver bullet, no single strategy that could be rolled out across four geographies. It's about understanding specific context of the different markets, listening to the clients, and finding value propositions.'
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