At the 12th “Zahlungsverkehrs-Symposium” of the Frankfurt Payments Network (FPN) on November 4, 2026, DPS CEO Philipp Königs delivered a keynote address in the “Digital Currencies” session.
Under the title “Innovation, Inclusion & Sovereignty,” he contrasted his impressions from Sibos 2026 in Miami with those from a recent business delegation trip to East Africa. While established financial markets are discussing tokenized deposits, the immediate and final settlement of transactions, and programmable money, the East African Community (EAC) is focused on affordable cross-border payments, the interoperability of different payment systems, and financial inclusion.
“We’re optimizing seconds. Other markets are optimizing inclusion,” said Königs, summarizing the contrast.
Other topics covered in his keynote included the overarching management of different payment channels and Europe’s strategic role in shaping future payment infrastructures. He then participated in the panel discussion.
DPS sponsored the symposium, which was hosted by PwC at Tower 185 in Frankfurt.
The presentation slides from the talk are available for download: Innovation, Inclusion & Sovereignty – Philipp Königs (PDF)
