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PaaS, cloud and instant payments: Navigating the outsourcing question

Today’s institutions are in some ways faced with far greater challenges than ever before. Be it from the demand for ever-faster services; the pressure of always-on compliance; or the need to remain agile and competitive. Is PaaS the holy grail FIs have been looking for?  Outsourcing payments is an increasingly irresistible proposition for FIs. With end-user demand constantly evolving; real-time requirements on the rise; macro-economic trends becoming ever more unpredictable; and the pressure of regulatory compliance ratcheting up, the provision of proprietary payments has become a thorny pursuit.  Enter the stage: cloud technology. By leveraging modern tools and techniques to build, deploy, run, and manage software in a cloud-computing environment, FIs of all kinds can take advantage of scalability, elasticity, and automation. But the benefits of Payments-as-a-Service (PaaS) can extend beyond these practicalities – serving to revolutionise bank operations, unlock broader efficiencies, and enrich the end-user experience.  Mining this potential, however, obliges institutions to navigate some challenges. First, FIs must understand the potential of cloud-native technology as an engine for modernisation and embrace the cultural shift that is triggered by cuttingedge technologies. It may involve training, testing and concerted integration efforts.  Another key challenge is delegation: which tasks should be handed to third parties, and which should remain in-house? Indeed, when systems evolve, FIs must always keep one eye on compliance. As ever, approach and growth potential are directly impacted by the type and size of the institution in question, so approaches should be tailored.  This Finextra whitepaper, produced in association with FIS, evaluates:  The key considerations when placing client transaction data in the public cloud;  The art of delegation: Determining which tasks to offload;  The role of regulation and compliance; and  A PaaS checklist for finding the right solutions and partnerships.    Register to watch the related Finextra webinar, hosted in association with FIS – PaaS, cloud and instant payments in the spotlight: Overcoming outsourcing challenges

84 downloads

Impact Study

Surviving digital fallout: Operational resilience in 2025 and beyond

Almost every financial institution loses money each year to outages. What does an optimal resilience strategy look like in 2025?  The financial sector is increasingly dependent on technology to deliver its offering. Notwithstanding all the benefits this brings for productivity, reach, and customer satisfaction, its side effect is that the sector is increasingly vulnerable to network and software issues, third-party service slip-ups, cyberattacks, and capacity problems. If not managed correctly, a compromised IT system can spark knock-on disruptions to financial institutions, the firms they trade with, their supply chains, and even the economy-at-large.  To mitigate such risks, the global marketplace has been flooded with regulations aimed at bolstering operational resilience. Most recently, Europe’s answer has been the Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA) – the deadline for which passed on 17 January 2025. However, these regulations are only guidelines; they mandate a minimum level for compliance, instead of an ideal strategy to holistically handle outages.  In this Finextra impact study, produced in association with Cockroach Labs, we speak with leading firms in the space to understand the best-in-class strategies they have adopted to achieve operational resilience. In the most effective cases, firms go beyond compliance, and exploit regulations as a business opportunity to stimulate productivity, increase competitiveness, and reduce costs. In today’s increasingly digital marketplaces, architectures must be operationally simple and flexible, as well as global and robust.  We explore:  The growing challenge of outages;  Regulation, DORA, and resilience requirements;  What an optimal resilience strategy should look like in 2025 and beyond;  How organisations can future proof their operations while staying agile for future regulatory requirements. 

64 downloads

Future of Report

The Future of European Fintech 2025: A Money20/20 Special Edition

A special edition for Money20/20 Europe 2025. The European fintech space is seeing leaps and bounds in digital innovation, financial technology, and operational resilience. With incoming regulation focused on standarising the sector and disruptive fintech firms challenging banks - the ecosystem is in a transitional period.  Among these challenges, the fintech boom is sweeping the continent. New developments in AI, tokenisation, digital identity, open banking, and more is redefining the banking sector. Europe is primed to act as the epicentre for global fintech innovation.  This Finextra report dives into industry sentiment on what the future holds for European fintech, featuring key insights from NatWest Group, Standard Chartered, BNY Mellon, Magnetiq Bank, GoCardless, Moore Kingston Smith, Stripe, and Augmentum Fintech. It explores:  AI and predictive analytics integration in payments;  Enabling financial inclusion and accessibility in emerging markets;  The role of digital identity and behavioural biometrics in financial services;  Innovation in regulatory practices;  The revolutionary power of smart data and decentralised finance. 

174 downloads

Impact Study

NextGen retail banking: A roadmap to successful modernisation

Learn why retail banks must transition to modern, composable, future-ready infrastructures today – and how they can devise journeys that are tailored as well as cost-effective. A significant portion of the retail banking landscape still relies on legacy systems, some of which can be costly and hamper innovation. According to a report from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), 58% of the UK’s financial services firms use legacy infrastructure for some operations, while 33% depend on it for most of their activities. In North America, the picture is similar, with around 40% of US banks still using the Common Business-Oriented Language (COBOL) – a coding language dating back to 1959. Some surveys indicate that up to 70% of bank IT budgets are spent on maintaining these legacy systems.   Today, with rapidly evolving consumer demands, technological advancements, stiff competition, and regulatory upheaval, outdated infrastructures are no longer tenable – and risk negatively impacting banks’ efficiency, agility, and customer experiences. So, how can retail banks modernise, while controlling costs and ensuring minimal impact on day-to-day business applications?   This Finextra impact study, produced in association with Oracle, analyses:  The key challenges of legacy banking systems  How to draw up a tailored roadmap for modernisation  How to quantify progress and measure success 

151 downloads

Event Report

Business@EBAday 2025

Your Essential Guide to Payments Innovation: Business@EBAday 2025 is Here! Business@EBAday 2025 is your exclusive digital companion to this year's premier payments and transaction banking event. This comprehensive supplement provides the latest insights from the leading companies exhibiting and sponsoring EBAday, offering a unique perspective into the innovations driving our industry forward.   What's Inside? Inside, you'll find articles and thought leadership pieces covering the most critical topics in payments today, including: The Road Ahead for ISO 20022 Migration: Understand the challenges, opportunities, and strategic implications as the industry moves towards richer data. Strengthening Defenses with Verification of Payee (VoP): Explore the latest strategies and technologies in fraud prevention. The Transformative Power of AI in Payments: Discover how artificial intelligence is reshaping operations, enhancing security, and creating new possibilities. Unlocking Efficiency with Virtual Accounts and Instant Payments: Dive into cutting-edge solutions for streamlined liquidity management and real-time processing. And much more! Hear diverse perspectives on cross-border payments, regulatory shifts, building robust ecosystems, and achieving operational excellence.   This supplement is an invaluable resource for: Payments professionals seeking strategic foresight. Financial institutions looking for actionable insights. Fintech innovators exploring collaborative opportunities. Anyone keen to understand the future trajectory of the payments industry.   Get a head start on the EBAday experience and equip yourself with knowledge from the industry's thought leaders. Have a look inside!   Business@EBAday 2025 is produced jointly by EBA and Finextra Research.

236 downloads

Impact Study

Why DevSecOps is key to navigating innovation and compliance

Explore how DevSecOps enable organisations to navigate economic uncertainties while treating innovation and compliance as complementary forces rather than competing priorities. A balancing act is underway within the financial services industry. Driven by client demand and fintech competition, institutions are increasingly obliged to innovate, while at the same time, ensure every step forward is secure and compliant. Often, it feels as though these two goals sit on either side of a seesaw – when one goes up, the other must go down. Many such challenges are born from the software delivery process, where countless organisations are struggling to source the expertise and capabilities necessary to deliver secure and compliant applications, at speed.  Much of the conflict stems from fragmented DevSecOps (a software development practice that integrates security throughout the development lifecycle) strategies which are built upon outdated infrastructure. Indeed, many financial institutions (FIs) today operate with disjointed security and development workflows – sometimes patching together between five to 10 separate tools that were implemented incrementally over time. While this approach worked five years ago, better options exist today. A simplified stack is conducive to both innovation and compliance – without either being compromised.  This Finextra impact study, produced in association with GitLab, explores:  How the evolution to a unified software delivery platform can deliver on both innovation and compliance;  reduce the risk of security incidents;  supercharge operational efficiencies;  amplify business agility and scalability;  and even support talent acquisition. 

142 downloads

Survey

Navigating the Nordic financial landscape: 2025 challenges and priorities

As the Nordic financial sector faces new hurdles and opportunities, a variety of issues are front and centre for financial institutions, technology providers, and fintechs.  Our latest survey of 150 responses reveals how Nordic institutions across Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden are navigating the current landscape and their strategic priorities for 2025. Providing valuable insights into areas such as the Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA), Verification of Payee (VoP), AI’s growing role in financial services, perspectives on central bank digital currency (CBDC) and stablecoin, and evolving payment trends such as Account-to-Account (A2A) and instant payments.  Analysis of our survey responses provides a comprehensive overview on how Nordic institutions are navigating transformation shaped by innovation, regulation, and evolving customer expectations, with progress and priorities varying by country.  We explore regional specific views towards:  Key priorities for 2025  Readiness for Verification of Payee (VoP)  Strategic AI integration for real impact  The rise of A2A, instant, and mobile payments  Attitudes towards central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) and stablecoin  The impact of DORA 

327 downloads

Future of Report

The Future of US Digital Payments 2025: ACH & Beyond

A special edition for Nacha's Smarter Faster Payments 2025.    The US digital payments landscape stands at a transformative crossroads. With the launch of RTP in 2016 and FedNow in 2023, the foundational infrastructure for instant payments is finally in place - poised to revolutionise the speed, efficiency, and security of transactions across the economy.    Yet despite these advancements, the path to widespread adoption remains complex and cautious. Entrenched systems like ACH and Wire, with their deep integration and long-standing reliability, continue to dominate due to their established utility and the significant investment required to pivot toward newer rails.    It’s not just a question of technological readiness, but of mindset, cost, and strategy. The advantages of instant payments—real-time access to funds, reduced credit risk, and improved liquidity—are clear. However, to truly unlock these benefits, banks and institutions must overcome the inertia of legacy systems and embrace modernisation, often with the support of flexible, cloud-native solutions that can de-risk and streamline the transition.    This Finextra report, in association with Form 3, explores industry sentiment on the future of US digital payments and showcases the views of BNY, Citizens, Green Dot, J.P. Morgan, U.S. Bank, and the US Faster Payments Council. It explores:    Evolving ACH infrastructure;  Enhancing RPT and FedNow capabilities;  How new rails interact with existing rails;  Redefining transactional architecture through emerging technologies;  Recognising risk as a strategic advantage in fraud prevention;  Prioritising innovation and compliance at the same time. 

371 downloads

Event Report

ISO 20022 for CBPR+: Driving Efficiency and Innovation in Financial Messaging

How far is the industry along its ISO 20022 for CBPR+ journey?  The financial industry is on the brink of a significant transformation with the implementation of ISO 20022 for cross-border payments and reporting (CBPR+). This new standard promises to revolutionise transaction handling by offering enhanced data quality, improved compliance, and greater operational efficiency. The shift from the current MT format, which is becoming insufficient in today’s data-driven and regulatory-focused environment, to ISO 20022 addresses these challenges with a more structured and comprehensive framework for financial messaging.     This transition is crucial for banks and non-bank financial institutions to understand and prepare for as it enables more effective communication across borders and systems. The reconciliation of payments, especially for corporate and SME sectors, demands accuracy in linking all related data. ISO 20022 significantly streamlines this process by enhancing data richness and interoperability across various payment systems.     This report highlights the key takeaways of a Finextra webinar, hosted in association with Finastra, by a panel of industry experts. Discover:   How far the industry has come in the transition,  the challenges organisations are facing, and  the strategic importance of ISO 20022 for CBPR+ adoption. 

309 downloads

Survey

US Regulation Survey 2025: Compliance at a Crossroads

Assessing financial industry preparedness in a shifting US regulatory landscape as organisations struggle with deadlines, cost, and technology. In an environment of rapidly evolving regulations, driven by legislative and policy shifts at the federal and state levels, the US regulatory landscape is marked by complexity and uncertainty. Understanding the level of preparedness across industries is crucial for ensuring compliance, mitigating risk, and enhancing operational efficiency. This survey was conducted at the beginning of 2025, gathering financial services industry sentiment as the Trump Administration took office and began pivoting on key regulatory elements. With the US financial regulation regime also somewhat in limbo, that uncertainty was – and is – increasingly impacting the views of the 200 organisations surveyed. Analysis of our survey responses provides a comprehensive overview of the state of regulation readiness in the US, differences in reporting obligations, the impacts of automation for compliance, the roles of technology and data, and industry plans for modernisation. We explore: Which regulations will have the biggest impact on US financial services in 2025; Regulatory effects on organisational frameworks, budgets and staffing; How organisations are leveraging technology and partnerships to streamline regulatory compliance.

279 downloads

Event Report

Using modern technology platforms to create an AI-driven bank

In the rapidly advancing banking sector, integrating Artificial Intelligence (AI) has become less of a choice and more of a crucial stepping stone. The industry is facing a turning point in the adoption of AI where organisations either embrace the opportunities in front of them or risk falling behind.  The rise of artificial intelligence (AI) has ushered in a new era of digital transformation. In banking operations, the integration of AI presents an opportunity for significant growth. However, this integration is not without its challenges. Banks are dealing with more data than ever before, and managing this information effectively is a crucial hurdle to overcome. From ensuring data accuracy and relevance to adhering to privacy regulations, these challenges require careful consideration.  The decision to incorporate AI should be a strategic one, aimed at addressing specific business challenges and not just a nod to the latest trend. Identifying growth-inhibiting challenges and evaluating the viability of AI as a solution is a practical and cost-effective approach.  This report highlights the key takeaways of a Finextra webinar, hosted in association with Red Hat, by a panel of industry experts. Discover:  Overcoming barriers in integrating AI into banking systems;  AI integration: A strategic approach; and  Effective utilisation of AI in business operations and risk mitigation.   

426 downloads

Event Report

The US Instant Payments Landscape: Navigating Growth and Challenges

The increasing demand for instant payment solutions is a key trend driving the adoption of faster payments. This webinar report explores what is holding instant payments back in the US.  In the US, real-time payments (RTP) have grown significantly since The Clearing House introduced them in 2017. Currently, the RTP network covers approximately 70% of customer accounts in the US, with transaction volumes and values rising dramatically. The Federal Reserve’s FedNow service, launched in mid-2023, has also contributed to this growth, processing a substantial number of payments in its initial quarters. These networks provide low-cost, efficient payment solutions that are gaining popularity for both consumer and business transactions.  Despite this progress, challenges remain in the adoption of faster payments. Interoperability between different payment systems and networks is a primary issue. While domestic instant payments are becoming more common, cross-border instant payments face obstacles due to the complexity of multi-currency transactions and varying regulations across countries. Additionally, the regulatory environment in the US does not mandate the adoption of faster payments, which can slow down the pace of implementation compared to other markets with regulatory mandates.  This report highlights the key takeaways of a Finextra webinar, hosted for the PREDICT 2025 campaign, by a panel of industry experts. It aims to answer:  What is holding Faster Payments back in the US and how much progress can be attributed to open banking and the ISO 20022 standard? Which applications of Faster Payments in the UK are transferrable to the US? With RtP and FedNow, how much choice is too much choice? What evidence is there that the financial services industry is at a tipping point and technology must be leveraged to ramp up adoption?

351 downloads

White Paper

Confirmation of Payee progress and APP fraud mitigation: Where are we now?

This report compares Confirmation of Payee progress and APP fraud mitigation across EMEA, APAC and North America, and features expert commentary from AccessPay, Bottomline, Finastra and NatWest.  APP fraud losses are expected to double across EMEA, APAC and North America, and legislation mandating CoP on a national or regional basis must be established across the globe. It is estimated that APP fraud losses in the UK, India and the UK will hit $5.25 billion, with a CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate) of 21% across the 2022-2026 period, according to an ACI Worldwide and GlobalData report.  Action must be taken, and if regulations are not put in place, financial institutions and PSPs must ensure they are leveraging technology solutions to bolster verification mechanisms themselves. Striking the balance between protecting the end customers, adding minimal friction to processes, and assessing fraud prevention procedures will be a cumbersome, yet important, project.  This Finextra report, produced in association with LexisNexis® Risk Solutions, explores how to meet that need, and:  The state of play for APP fraud and misdirected payment fraud across EMEA, APAC, and North America;  How success stories in EMEA will set the trend for other regions;  The impact non-CoP initiation in APAC will have on international payments; and  What the future holds for technology solutions that can detect account activity in North America. 

611 downloads

Event Report

Risk-based authentication: Enhancing security and user experience in fraud prevention

In today’s rapidly evolving digital landscape, the importance of robust cross-channel authentication cannot be overstated. As businesses and consumers increasingly interact across multiple platforms, ensuring secure and seamless authentication processes is paramount.  Online platforms have become integral to modern financial activities, which necessitates secure and seamless transactions, backed up by robust authentication mechanisms. Risk-based authentication offers a dynamic security approach, balancing user convenience with stringent fraud prevention.  The integration of cross-channel data and advanced technologies like machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI) is vital, as well as access and understanding of data. High-quality data is the cornerstone of effective fraud prevention and detection, which is why organisations must invest in robust data engineering practices to ensure collected data is accurate and well-labelled.  This investment enables the development of sophisticated models to better identify and prevent fraudulent activities. Prioritising data quality enhances fraud prevention strategies, protecting businesses and their customers from potential threats.  So how can organisations holistically address risk-based authentication in a dynamic world? This webinar report summarises the discussion of a Finextra webinar, hosted in association with Mastercard, and explores:  Risk-based authentication in fraud prevention;  Adapting fraud prevention to evolving threats;  Advanced authentication strategies for corporate fraud prevention;  Digital IDs, channels, and exclusion. 

274 downloads

Impact Study

Cross-border payments: How is the market addressing G20 targets?

This impact study explores how far along the G20’s cross-border roadmap firms have travelled; why cutting-edge technology platforms are imperative in today’s instant payments world; as well as how financial leaders can go beyond the G20’s objectives, in order to ensure prosperity for the coming decade.  The cross-border payments market is one of the fastest growing money movement markets in the world. It reached $150 trillion in 2017, and by 2027 is expected to reach $250 trillion – a rise of over $100 trillion in just ten years. There are several factors that have led to the increase in global remittances, be they wholesale or retail in origin, including expanding supply chains; globalised investment flows; international trade and e-commerce; as well as the increased global movement of people, resulting in more money being sent across borders.  While cross-border payments are booming, many financial institutions are still struggling to keep their technology platforms up to speed, and the drive toward real-time is having deep ramifications for organisations’ operations. To address these challenges, a gathering of some of the world’s largest economies, known as the Group of Twenty (G20), set out a roadmap in 2021 to improve cross-border payments.  Also providing impetus for widespread modernisation are mandated initiatives like new, and continually evolving, ISO 20022 message and data standards and the European Union (EU)’s Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA) – forcing players in the highly-competitive payments space to invest in smarter services, customer centricity, and on top of that, become the engines of growth.  This Finextra impact study, produced in association with Temenos, explores:   A status update on the G20 cross-border targets;  The need for modernisation - an overview of other factors affecting cross-border payments;  A roadmap for change beyond G20;  Real-life case studies. 

486 downloads