Having set out how standardisation and industry alignment are strengthening the foundations of the payments landscape, this second part analyses the role of technology in this transition.

“In the past, many innovations that were expected to be game-changers took much longer than projected to materialise,” said Deutsche Bank’s Ole Matthiessen, “For the first time in my career, I believe we might be underestimating the pace of change. With quantum computing, AI, and the tools now at our disposal, the speed at which we can reshape industries is accelerating faster than we’ve ever seen.”

‘Navigating the intersection of technology and financial security’. Left to right: Julia Streets, Founder and CEO Streets Consulting; Leigh-Ann Russell, Chief Information Officer and Global Head of Engineering, BNY; Ole Matthiessen, Global Head of Cash Management and Head of Corporate Bank APAC & MEA Deutsche Bank; Mashur Arefin, Managing Director and CEO, The City Bank Bangladesh; Lisa Lee, Global Lead for FSI – Office of the CISO USA Microsoft; and Sudhir Pai, Chief Technology and Innovation Officer, Australia CapGemini

Later in this panel discussion (see above) moderator Julia Streets brought in the issue of legacy which the panel agreed nobody could get away from – as one bank put it, “We continually kick the can down the road and the challenge becomes multiplied”. One end-of-life system or piece of code can have five more dependencies – also at end-of-life. Capgemini’s Sudhir Pai said that tackling this required the “ability to change and have agility within the organisation”.

As explained in ‘Back to the bank of tomorrow’ stablecoins, once a niche bridge between digital assets, have moved into the financial mainstream raising issues for stable financial innovation from central banks. In many emerging markets, they’re now used for remittances and as a digital store of value.

So have tokenised deposits (digital representations of customer bank deposits) that are similar to traditional deposits and issued on the blockchain by licensed financial institutions. Like stablecoins, they are fully backed by real fiat currency. These forms of digital money are used for instant payments and automated settlements.

At the other end of the digital-money spectrum are central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) – sovereign digital money issued and backed by central banks. Around the world, these are being explored on two fronts: retail CBDCs to boost financial inclusion and payment efficiency, and wholesale CBDCs to enhance interbank settlement, liquidity and cross-border flows.

During the Innotribe session Crypto and Web3: from wild west to settled environment, Co-Pierre Georg, Professor at the Frankfurt School of Finance & Management, cautioned that while these developments mark an important evolution in how money is issued and exchanged, multiple approaches are emerging – each with their own rules and standards – creating the potential for new silos rather than shared infrastructure.

He compared this moment to the early days of the internet, when engineers, regulators and academics came together to design open protocols that ensured interoperability. A similar approach, he argued, will be essential to prevent a fragmented landscape of public and private networks.

That call for coordination set the tone for later discussions. In the Stablecoins vs CBDCs: digital currencies at the crossroads session, panellists explored how this diversity of models is playing out in practice – and their use cases. Once dismissed as a threat of bank disintermediation, the rise of stablecoins is instead proving interdependent with banks given that they provide reserves, on- and off-ramps, and liquidity.

Rene Michau, Global Head of Digital Assets at Standard Chartered Bank, observed that most current frameworks don’t assume banks will participate – and that’s a problem. Encouraging regulated participation, he noted, will strengthen system stability and prevent risky concentration in smaller institutions.

‘How to get digital assets ready for prime-time’. Left to right: Kaj Burchardi, Managing Director BCG (Moderator); Stephanie Lheureux, Head of Digital Assets Euroclear; Sabih Behzad, Head of Digital Assets and Currencies Transformation, Stéphanie Cabossioras Secretary General of Société Générale – FORGE; and Ian De Bode, Chief Strategy Office, Ondo Finance

Across sessions, a shared theme emerged: digital money will gain traction only when it solves real-world problems – and these use cases are beginning to prove themselves. In the session, How to get digital assets ready for prime-time, SocGen FORGE’s Stéphanie Cabossioras¹ (the integrated subsidiary of Societe Generale Group dedicated to crypto assets,) said that their CoinDesk EUR and USD stablecoins are live and in the marketplace.² She reported on how the bank had announced its first repo transaction on the public blockchain (Ethereum) with the Banque de France in December 2024, where it had deposited bonds in exchange for the central bank’s CBDCs.³

Deutsche Bank’s Sabih Behzad highlighted opportunities in liquidity optimisation, cross-border FX efficiency and collateral mobility – areas where blockchain can streamline settlement, enhance transparency and free trapped capital. Turning to how digital assets are regulated he called for regulation to address “specific technology there may be concern about”. When asked if the EU’s Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) would see a second iteration, he reflected, “regulation evolves…especially in this space. The pace of change has been so immense that it will undoubtedly require a re-examination.”

Where digital assets are redefining what money is, the industry is also rethinking how it moves. The shift ahead, according to Roel Huisman, Head of Payment & Settlement Services at ING, will not arrive as a sudden revolution but through a gradual and deliberate transformation.

“I don’t see autonomous payments as a revolution that falls from the sky; it’s a staged evolution,” he explained during the Sibos 2025 panel The invisible transaction: unlocking value with autonomous payments and embedded finance. Over time, the industry has advanced from scheduled and recurring transactions to direct debits with predefined mandates, to event-driven payments triggered by real-time data – and now, to agentic AI capable of making and executing payment decisions.

What differentiates this moment, Huisman observed, is the convergence of several long-developing trends. Instant payment rails now operate continuously, handling high volumes of low-value transactions around the clock, while both open banking and the Internet of Things have reached a level of maturity that enables seamless data exchange and integration. Combined with the growing capabilities of AI, these developments are finally coming together to create the conditions for autonomous payments.

“For smaller companies the focus remains more practical than philosophical”
Kilian Thalhammer, Global Head of Merchant Solutions at Deutsche Bank

For Kilian Thalhammer, Global Head of Merchant Solutions at Deutsche Bank, two forces are shaping this evolution. “On one side, there’s the trend to make payments as invisible as possible – that’s not new. The old statement that nobody cares about payments, they care about what they want to do, is still true,” he explained. “On the other, you have drivers from the market and from regulation to make sure the consumer or corporate making the payment is aware of what they’re doing. Those two forces can sometimes conflict.”

Linking this to the rise of AI, Thalhammer noted that the same questions will resurface as new agentic systems emerge. “AI will bring new front-ends and new capabilities, and at first that might make things more visible because trust matters – but over time, they’ll become invisible again,” he said. For smaller companies, however, the focus remains more practical than philosophical. “They don’t care if payments are invisible, embedded, or whatever we call it – they just want to do business.”

Fraud may not be new, but the rules of engagement are changing fast, and the Swift community is seeing a new mix of sophistication, human targeting and cross-channel complexity. “Deepfake video calls, phone-email combinations – all of this makes attacks far more credible. Real-time decision-making is now essential. If signals arise during a payment, we need to adapt instantly to prevent fraud,” said Deutsche Bank’s Kirsten-Anne Bremke in the Unlocking the power of AI & data collaboration for fraud session. The panel agreed that data silos were a barrier to cross-border data sharing, and the discussion circled around the legal basis for safe, secure and proportionate information sharing.

‘Unlocking the power of AI & data collaboration for fraud’. Left to right: Rachel Levi, Head of AI, Swift; Nicholas Maxwell, Head of Research FFIS; Jo Yeo, Director, Monetary Authority of Singapore; Frederic Lebeau, CEO Datavillage; Kirsten-Anne Bremke, Managing Director, Data and AI Tribe Lead, Deutsche Bank

To move this forward, Swift has partnered with 13 global banks – including Deutsche Bank – to demonstrate how AI and privacy-enhancing technologies can enable different institutions to securely share fraud insights across borders.

“The industry loses billions to fraud each year, but by enabling the secure sharing of intelligence across borders we’re paving the way for this figure to be significantly reduced and allowing fraud to be stopped in a matter of minutes, not hours or days,” reported Swift’s Head of AI, Rachel Levi, (moderator of the panel) in the announcement on 15 September.⁴

At the Interconnected digital ecosystems in finance: Delivering operational excellence, security and resilience session, moderator Zachary Aron, Principal of USA Deloitte began with the observation the industry no longer questioned partnerships between fintechs and financial institutions – echoing Deutsche Bank CEO Christian Sewing’s Day One declaration that “competitors have become collaborators”. 

The new normal is indeed collaboration. Helena Forest, Executive Vice President for Real-Time Payments at Mastercard, outlined three ingredients of effective partnership: a shared vision, complementary capabilities, and a commitment to responsible growth.”

“The detail emerges during the relationship… Staying close, transparent and connected is super important.”
Matthew Probershteyn, Head of Engagement, Controls and Risk Oversight, Institutional Cash & Trade at Deutsche Bank

“It’s almost like getting married,” said Matthew Probershteyn at Deutsche Bank. “Before you marry, you take time to learn your partner; you don’t rush.” That approach extends across relationships – with fintechs, clients and regulators alike – underpinned by shared accountability and proactive monitoring. “When we start a relationship, on paper everyone can pass the test. The detail emerges during the relationship. Who have you paid? Was that payment expected? Was that trade expected? When behaviour changes, that’s when flags should be raised. Staying close, transparent and connected is super important.”

As the discussion turned to AI and digital assets, one message prevailed: technology alone will not ensure resilience. The strength of tomorrow’s financial ecosystem will depend on the quality of its partnerships, the trust built between participants, and the willingness to share intelligence in real time – with risk management embedded in every connection.

Sibos Frankfurt 2025 was held at the Frankfurt Messe, Frankfurt, Germany from 29 September to 2 October 2025

Images © Swift

Sources

¹ See The integrated subsidiary of Société Générale Group dedicated to crypto assets
² See sgforge.com
³ See societegenerale.com
⁴ See swift.com