Cross-border instant payments is one of the key topics at Sibos 2025 in Frankfurt. Michael Steinbach, President of the Frankfurt Payments Network (FPN), talks to Tobias Dieterich (DPS) about the current status and next steps: from BIS Project Nexus and regional interlinking initiatives to European infrastructures such as TIPS and the interaction with SWIFT. The focus is on the importance of standardisation with ISO 20022, practical interoperability across currency areas, and the modernisation of legacy IT for 24/7 operation and real-time compliance. Specific recommendations show what institutions should prioritise now.
Mr Steinbach, why is ‘instant’ the new normal today – even across borders?
We live in an ‘instant world’. Just like with a search engine or AI: enter a question or prompt and get an immediate answer – this expectation is standard today. That’s why the real debate is no longer “whether”, but ‘how do we scale this reliably across borders?’.
Where does Europe stand – and what role does regulation play?
Europe’s strength lies in the SEPA concept: common rules, common standards. Many institutions have already taken substantial steps – at the same time, regulation ensures that everyone stays on the same track and in the same direction. It creates predictability, ends policy loops and accelerates investment decisions. This is exactly what helps to promote instant across the board. And that brings us to the question of how the public sector – in particular the ECB – is supporting this development in organisational and technical terms.
The European Central Bank (ECB) is clearly pushing ahead with TIPS. Opportunity or conflict – especially with regard to SWIFT?
The ECB has a dual role: supervision and, with TIPS, active market participation. Its message is: enable interoperability so that institutions and PSPs can build their services on it. The interaction with SWIFT and private infrastructures is exciting, also with regard to Sibos: where do they complement each other, where are there overlaps?
Internationally, corridors and interlinkings of national/regional real-time payment systems are emerging. Which ones do you consider groundbreaking?
Particularly relevant is the ‘Nexus’ project launched several years ago by the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) with the aim of interlinking national real-time payment systems from countries in Southeast Asia and India, which entered its next phase of operational start-up in March this year with the establishment of Nexus Global Payments. Standardised connection and process models are being created here so that payments between different currencies can be made in seconds. At the same time, we are also seeing politically driven dynamics from the G20 countries, which are being implemented under the leadership of the Financial Stability Board (FSB) and with technical support from the BIS, and the initiative launched by the BRICS countries under the name BRICS Pay. All initiatives are based on the ‘connector concept’, i.e. the interlinking of national real-time payment systems.
The G20 has set very ambitious goals in this regard for 2027. How do you assess this?
For me, the G20 agenda – flanked by the work of the BIS – is the strongest global signal towards real-time payments across borders and currencies. It remains to be seen whether all targets will be achieved by the end of 2027; what is important is the direction and the collective pressure to overcome obstacles such as FX processes, 24/7 liquidity and real-time compliance checks.
We regularly receive questions via our channels about DLT-based solutions – often specifically about the prospects of private-sector providers such as Ripple. Can stablecoins/DLT replace traditional intermediaries in the medium term?
Technically, this is conceivable. Stablecoins allow end-to-end transfers with finality and subsequent conversion back into the target currency – theoretically without the intermediaries that are established today. However, broad acceptance requires a robust framework and the backing of trustworthy institutions. Without governance and regulation, it remains fragmented and risky. In short: ‘Everything is possible, nothing is impossible’ – but without a clear regulatory framework, it will not scale globally.
Your advice: What should banks and financial service providers – such as DPS – do now in concrete terms?
Think in terms of the end scenario: the world of instant payments is coming – whether in three, five or seven years. Anyone building products and processes today must consistently align them with this future: interoperability, 24/7 operation, industrialised compliance flows. A key lever is standardisation – with ISO 20022 as a common semantic basis across the entire chain. To achieve this, financial institutions must systematically modernise their legacy IT systems. Mainframes are still in use in many places and will remain business-critical in the foreseeable future, even if people today don’t like to talk about this ‘outdated technology’ and give the impression that all IT applications are already ‘running in the cloud’. Industry service providers are doing valuable work in this extremely sensitive modernisation process – in migration, standardisation and stable interfaces. The important thing is to start today, not tomorrow!
Thank you very much for the interview – and have a successful Sibos in Frankfurt with lots of interesting discussions!
Michael Steinbach is President of the Frankfurt Payments Network (FPN) and has more than 40 years of experience in payment transactions. Until February 2023, he was Head of Global Business Line Financial Services at the Worldline Group, CEO of equensWorldline SE and a member of the Group Executive Committee. Steinbach was also active in leading industry bodies such as the European Payments Council and the International Payments Framework Association. Since July 2023, he has been focusing on non-executive mandates and strategic consulting tasks.
