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December 1, 2025
On the web
How Deposits Can Harness Tokenisation
BIS
"Tokenisation has challenged the way we think about money and promises a major leap in how the financial system functions. Understanding the technology behind tokenisation, together with the opportunities and risks it presents, is crucial. Tokenisation introduces the possibility of creating two distinct worlds: private permissioned platforms, which are regulated and governed by trusted entities, and public permissionless platforms, which operate in open, decentralised environments with limited oversight and greater risks."
October 24, 2025
On the web
Stablecoin-Related Yields: Some Regulatory Approaches
BIS
"Some cryptoasset service providers (CASPs) offer yield-bearing products based on payment stablecoins, even though these stablecoins are not inherently designed to generate on-chain returns to holders. Yield generation often involves re-lending to borrowers, margin pools, arbitrage/derivatives collateral or facilitating their use in decentralised finance (DeFi) lending protocols. In other cases, yields are provided through loyalty programmes that are directly funded by CASPs.These practices may blur the lines between payment instruments and investment products."
October 10, 2025
On the web
The Use of Artificial Intelligence for Policy Purposes
BIS
"The report examines how central banks, financial regulators and supervisory authorities are using AI for policy purposes. They regularly work with vast data sets and complex decision-making processes to safeguard monetary and financial stability and ensure the integrity of payment systems. New, advanced AI methods – including large language models that power generative AI – have created new opportunities to boost efficiency and effective policymaking."
October 8, 2025
On the web
Pricing in Fast Payments: A Practical and Theoretical Overview
BIS
"Fast payment systems (FPS) enable the instant transfer and availability of funds on a 24/7 basis, offering an alternative to cash and payment cards. While FPS adoption is growing globally, a key open question is how fast payments should be priced. Pricing schemes in FPS need to balance the competing goals of enhancing usage and incentivising the participation of payment service providers (PSPs)."
September 4, 2025
On the web
Project Keystone: Unlocking Data Analytics for ISO 20022 Payments
BIS
"Project Keystone developed a standardised data analytics platform focused on ISO 20022 data. As part of the project, two modules have been developed. The first addressed the complexities of handling the ISO 20022 data structure and the associated data storage requirements, while the second provided analysis based on the data. Keystone could become an off-the-shelf component that payment system operators could integrate into their own systems to unlock the value of the richer payments data."
June 9, 2025
On the web
Project Hertha: Identifying Financial Crime Patterns in Real-Time Retail Payment Systems
BIS
"Protecting payment systems from financial crime, while upholding user privacy, is an important challenge in delivering the future of payments. Building on the findings from Project Aurora, BIS Innovation Hub's Project Hertha explored how transaction analytics could help identify financial crime patterns in real-time retail payment systems, while using the minimum set of data points."
May 30, 2025
On the web
BIS: Digital Fraud
BIS
"The ongoing digitalisation of finance brings numerous benefits, such as increased efficiency, convenience, financial inclusion, transparency and quicker responses to crises. However, it also introduces significant risks to bank soundness and financial stability. One such risk is digital fraud."
May 29, 2025
On the web
Regulating and Supervising Cross-Border Payment Service Providers
BIS
"Advances in digital technology are playing a key role in improving the efficiency and effectiveness of transferring funds across borders. New service providers supplying more delivery channels based on new technologies offer consumers access to more convenient, cheaper and faster options for conducting transactions, such as paying bills, purchasing goods and services, and transferring cash to others."
May 15, 2025
On the web
Central Banks Prepare for a Tokenized Future
Ledger Insights
"Imagine a financial world where every transaction, from billion-dollar treasury purchases to retail payments, exists entirely as digital tokens. The Federal Reserve Bank of New York and the Bank for International Settlements Innovation Hub aren’t just imagining this scenario, they’re actively preparing for it through Project Pine."
May 14, 2025
On the web
Project Pine: Central Bank Open Market Operations With Smart Contracts
BIS
"Project Pine is a joint research study by the New York Fed's New York Innovation Center and the BIS Innovation Hub Swiss Centre that explores if and how central banks can implement monetary policy in a potential future state where the financial sector widely adopts tokenisation in wholesale markets."
April 24, 2025
On the web
Project Meridian FX Shows Possibility of Cross-Border Linkages for FX Transactions Between Wholesale Payment Infrastructures
BIS
"Project Meridian FX proves that wholesale payment infrastructures, such as real-time gross settlement (RTGS) systems, can be interoperable via new technologies for FX transactions. The joint project between the Bank for International Settlements, Bank of England, Bank of France, Bank of Italy, Deutsche Bundesbank and European Central Bank explored synchronising foreign exchange (FX) transactions. It demonstrated that FX transactions could be settled across jurisdictions and different types of infrastructures."
April 17, 2025
On the web
Leveraging Tokenisation for Payments and Financial Transactions
bis
"This report by the Consultative Group on Innovation and the Digital Economy (CGIDE) discusses theoretical and real-world use cases of tokenisation, which include initiatives run by the Central Bank of Brazil and the Central Bank of Colombia, and private sector-led initiatives discussed within the CGIDE during 2023-24. In addition to use cases and progress to date, the report also explores some preconditions and other considerations for tokenisation."
March 25, 2025
On the web
And So We Pay: More Digital and Faster, With Cash Still in Play
BIS
"The use of cashless payments continues to increase. In particular, the use of credit transfers and e-money has grown, especially in emerging market and developing economies (EMDEs). Fast payments are gaining further ground and a key driver of the growing use of credit transfers in many EMDEs. Fast payments are often associated with less cash in circulation, and with more and smaller card payments."
February 20, 2025
On the web
Interlinking Fast Payment Systems to Enhance Cross-Border Payments
BIS
"Emerging markets and developing economies have made considerable progress in fast payment adoption, laying the foundation for interlinking at the regional and international levels – thus enhancing cross-border payments."
February 13, 2025
On the web
Project Rialto: Improving Instant Cross-Border Payments Using Central Bank Money Settlement
BIS
"The retail cross-border payments market is valued at more than $800 billion of transactions per year, and is growing. Despite this, retail cross-border transactions lag domestic ones in terms of cost, speed, access and transparency because of the complex processes they involve."
January 7, 2025
On the web
BIS Committee on Payments and Market Infrastructures Takes Further Steps to Promote ISO 20022 Harmonisation for Enhanced Cross-Border Payments
BIS
"The BIS Committee on Payments and Market Infrastructures (CPMI) announced further steps to promote the adoption of its harmonised ISO 20022 data requirements for more efficient processing of cross-border payments. The announcement should provide clarity to industry regarding the medium-term governance and maintenance of the harmonised data requirements during the period of global transition to the ISO 20022 messaging standard."
December 18, 2024
On the web
A Proposal for a Retail Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) Architecture
BIS
"This report by the Consultative Group on Innovation and the Digital Economy (CGIDE) discusses four main processes in a retail central bank digital currency (CBDC) architecture. These are: i) enrolling new users, ii) creating CBDC (cash-in), iii) destroying CBDC (cash-out) and iv) intra-ledger transfers."
December 12, 2024
On the web
Regulating AI in the Financial Sector: Recent Developments and Main Challenges
BIS
"This paper explores the potential transformative impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on the financial sector, focusing on operational efficiency, risk management and customer experience in banking and insurance. It delves into the widespread adoption of AI technologies including generative AI (gen AI) and examines the associated risks and regulatory implications."
November 21, 2024
Top Post
Retail Fast Payment Systems as a Catalyst for Digital Finance
BIS
"The rise of digital technologies is challenging the dominance of traditional financial institutions, such as banks. Payments have been the most deeply impacted, and a number of initiatives aim to further increase their speed and convenience. Retail fast payment systems (FPS) offer one prominent example."
November 15, 2024
On the web
Why Is BIS Having Second Thoughts About mBridge?
Kapronasia
"Ever since the China-led central bank digital currency project mBridge was launched several years ago, there have been whispers that its ultimate goal was to develop an alternative payments rail that could circumvent the U.S.-dominated international financial system. That is because mBridge aims to establish direct links between the central banks of its participants, allowing money to be sent outside of the existing correspondent banking system."
November 14, 2024
On the web
Project Mbridge Reached Minimum Viable Product Stage
BIS
"Project mBridge reached the minimum viable product (MVP) stage in mid-2024. The project aimed to explore a multi-central bank digital currency (CBDC) platform shared among participating central banks and commercial banks, built on distributed ledger technology (DLT) to enable instant cross-border payments and settlement."
November 5, 2024
On the web
Project Nexus: Enabling Instant Cross-Border Payments
BIS
"In over 70 countries today domestic payments reach their destination in seconds at near-zero cost to the sender or recipient. This is thanks to the growing availability of instant payment systems (IPS). Connecting these IPS to each other can enable cross-border payments from Sender to Recipient within 60 seconds (in most cases)."
November 1, 2024
On the web
Statistical Release: BIS International Banking Statistics and Global Liquidity Indicators at End-June 2024
BIS
"Global cross-border bank claims changed little during the second quarter of 2024. Claims dropped by a modest $11 billion following a surge in the previous quarter."
October 21, 2024
On the web
Tokenisation in the Context of Money and Other Assets: Concepts and Implications for Central Banks
BIS
"The growth in projects and experiments in regulated financial markets has increased the relevance of tokenisation for central banks. This report was prepared by the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) and its Committee on Payments and Market Infrastructures for the Brazilian G20 Presidency. The report sets out the concepts related to digital tokens and programmable platforms."
October 16, 2024
On the web
Project Aperta: Enabling Cross-Border Data Portability Through Open Finance Interoperability
BIS
"The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) is launching Project Aperta to explore how to reduce frictions and costs in global finance by enabling seamless cross-border data portability. The project aims to connect the domestic open finance infrastructures of different jurisdictions."
October 15, 2024
On the web
Linking Fast Payment Systems Across Borders: Governance and Oversight – Final Report
BIS
"This report - a key deliverable under the G20 cross-border payments programme - aims to inform owners and operators of fast payment systems (FPS) when they are developing the governance and risk management of their FPS interlinking arrangement as well as overseers when they are defining their oversight approach."
August 28, 2024
On the web
Novel Risks, Mitigants and Uncertainties With Permissionless Distributed Ledger Technologies
BIS
"Banks that transact on permissionless blockchains or similar distributed ledger technologies (DLTs) face various risks. This paper considers the risks related to operations and security, governance, legal, compliance (including money laundering/financing of terrorism) and settlement finality."
August 20, 2024
On the web
BIS London Centre to Develop ISO 20022 Data Analytics Platform
Global Government Fintech
"‘Project Keystone’, whose details were announced, is a Bank for International Settlements (BIS) Innovation Hub London centre initiative in co-operation with the Bank of England (the centre’s host authority)."
August 2, 2024
On the web
BIS Project Nexus: Governors See Potential to Enable Instant Cross-Border Payments [Video]
YouTube
"Project Nexus aims to connect domestic instant payment systems to improve the speed, cost, transparency of and access to cross-border payments."
July 8, 2024
On the web
Digital Payments, Informality and Economic Growth
BIS
"Digital payments have become quite popular in advanced economies, but their rapid growth in emerging market and developing economies (EMDEs) is especially noteworthy. Between 2014 and 2021, the number of adults in EMDEs using digital payments increased from 35% to 57%."
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