Future of payments 2024: Many Paths, One Goal
The Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum (OMFIF) Digital Monetary Institute (DMI) published its annual Future of Payments report, based on a survey of 34 central banks, 13 from advanced and 21 from emerging market economies. It found that platforms based on multi-currency central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) are emerging as alternatives to existing cross-border payments systems, with Project mBridge being the most advanced, although liquidity issues and governance concerns still pose limitations for widespread adoption. CBDC interoperability will be a key consideration for global payments going forward, with a hub-and-spoke model being favored by survey respondents. Standardization (e.g., migrating to ISO 20022 standards) is helping to reduce the costs and frictions in cross-border payments, but implementation is patchy. However, instant payments systems are rapidly growing in importance, with 47% of survey respondents selecting it as the most promising avenue for improving cross-border payments.