PAYMENTS

The long-term economics also look compelling. Laurent points to cost efficiencies that emerge over time:“ In the long term, although investing in instant payment infrastructure is costly, banks and payment service providers will benefit from greater cost efficiency through lower transaction, handling and operational expenses, as well as improved liquidity management.”

Competition is moving toward premium API offerings, advanced analytics, and orchestration services. The winners will be those who make instant transfers seamless components of superior customer experiences.

The platform revolution Variable Recurring Payments, API-driven services and embedded finance are converging to reshape how payment services actually reach customers. The old model – where banks owned the entire customer journey – is crumbling.

Irene says that institutions“ can’ t operate in silos anymore.” The leaders are building developer-first platforms that abstract complexity, enabling partners to create new payment flows without understanding the underlying infrastructure.

Instant payments settle within 10 seconds, requiring pretransaction fraud screening

“ This is about composability, extensibility and orchestration – not product proliferation,” she notes.

Laurent describes how payment service providers are“ recasting themselves as infrastructure platforms using APIs to power third-party use cases.”

The transformation extends beyond European borders. Crossborder payments, long plagued by high fees and slow processing, are being revolutionised by modern infrastructure.

Laurent notes that providers can now address“ high fees, slow processing times and limited transparency” through interoperable systems and real-time processing.

Variable Recurring Payments( VRPs) add another dimension, enabling dynamic payment arrangements that move far beyond traditional direct debits.

Combined with instant settlement, VRPs create new possibilities for cash flow management and customer engagement that were impossible under previous payment frameworks.

The orchestration economy takes shape Embedded finance has killed the idea that payment providers can own customer relationships. Financial services increasingly live inside other platforms – marketplaces, apps, business software – where the payment experience must be seamless and invisible.