Moving beyond connectivity to boost payments value

A recent online webinar brought together payments, technology and compliance professionals to examine how banks can move beyond basic network access to increase value across the payments lifecycle. Scott Hamilton moderated the session.

Panelists described a payments environment with a growing mix of domestic and international schemes, real-time rails, legacy systems and new payment methods. They noted that ISO 20022 has created a more standard messaging foundation but reported ongoing challenges in routing, managing richer data, fraud detection, regulatory reporting and reconciliation across multiple networks.

Speakers outlined operational approaches to reduce complexity and increase control. Replacing point-to-point integrations with APIs and stronger ecosystem connectivity can speed onboarding of new rails and partners. Centralised data platforms and automated processes can cut manual reconciliation and standardise routing logic. Advanced analytics and AI were presented as tools to improve fraud detection and compliance screening when supported by high-quality data and governance.

The panel addressed model transparency and oversight for AI. They recommended building trusted data foundations, maintaining transparent models that can be audited, and combining automated screening with human review for higher-risk cases. Governance frameworks that define roles, thresholds and escalation paths for automated actions were described as necessary for operational control.

Practical operational changes discussed included consolidating reporting systems, standardising message formats, improving real-time monitoring, and implementing fallback and redundancy plans to strengthen resilience. For cross-border flows, multi-rail strategies were presented to let institutions route transactions based on cost, speed and compliance requirements. Panelists also discussed blockchain and distributed ledger technologies as options for specific use cases such as simplifying reconciliation and settlement between counterparties.

Regulatory compliance and fraud prevention attracted sustained attention. Panelists urged automation of screening and reporting where possible while retaining clear audit trails and human checks for unusual activity. They recommended proactive engagement with regulators and industry groups to ensure implementations of new standards and APIs meet local and international rules.

Panelists observed that the industry focus is shifting from simply enabling network access to building greater intelligence, visibility and control across payments. The webinar closed with advice to pursue pragmatic, governed adoption of richer messaging standards, APIs and automation in order to balance speed, security and the customer experience.