From our conversations at Sibos with leaders at Temenos, LexisNexis Risk Solutions, Bottomline, Icon Solutions and CGI, a consistent theme emerged. Compliance is evolving into a force that’s redefining payments through better data and stronger controls.
Interviewees treated regulation and innovation as two sides of the same coin. As Mick Fennell at Temenos put it, “regulation and innovation are two sides of the same coin” and people who work in payments “eat, sleep and breathe regulation.” That mindset anchors trust and better service when standards such as ISO 20022 set a common language.
Bottomline’s Vitus Rotzer urged banks and corporates to lean into compliance to gain on safety, speed and transparency. Those who adopt richer data, modern screening and verification can turn control frameworks into competitive advantage.
For treasurers this is practical. A well built compliance programme creates usable data and disciplined processes that shorten decision cycles and support real time services.
No one we spoke to views the recent milestones as an endpoint. John Hutton at LexisNexis Risk Solutions expects MT and ISO to run in parallel for a period, with banks prioritising ISO where richer structured data matters most such as corporate payments and trade finance. “Payments are ultimately data files” and ISO’s structure unlocks reconciliation and more accurate screening.
Rotzer noted that many institutions are technically ready yet not exploiting the payload. The gains come when banks apply ISO data to analytics, screening and end-to-end optimisation. “This November isn’t the end. It is the beginning.”
Toine van Beusekom at Icon Solutions pushed for value over box ticking. “The shift now is from tick the box to value add use cases” and that requires data hygiene plus modernised core flows before you reach the benefits across cash management, fraud and AI.
Volumes are rising while customer patience shortens. Van Beusekom’s warning is blunt. “Staying up at 50 million transactions a day is a different game than 100 thousand a day.” Rotzer expects instant payments to become the norm, but only when resilience, fraud controls and verification of payee are baked into the design. Mandates in Europe and Switzerland are already speeding adoption.
Fennell’s answer? Always on operations with credible failover and cloud native scale, whether delivered in house or through trusted vendors.
Hutton is clear on authorised push payment fraud. “Standardisation is key” and a single coordinating body helps avoid fragmented implementations that weaken protection. He also points to the UK picture where Confirmation of Payee has “materially reduced” scams, with customer education playing a vital role.
Bottomline’s position is multi-rail rather than either-or. “Each rail has a purpose” and intelligent routing by corridor, currency and cost is what matters. That approach works best when a universal aggregator applies consistent policy and controls while giving a unified view.
For corporates with multi-bank and multi-region structures, this abstraction layer is becoming essential. It is the reliable route to scale while keeping a coherent control framework and a single view of risk and status.
CGI’s Andy Schmidt offered a concise rule for ISO success. “Message hygiene is crucial.” Shared language only works when fields are mapped consistently end to end.
On cash visibility he points to the real world hurdle. “APIs make it technically possible to aggregate into a single view, but logistically it is tough.” The goal is for ISO payloads to update ERP systems automatically, with humans supervising rules and exceptions.
Trust remains the anchor. “Trust is the bedrock of financial services.” That means explainability and measured rollouts with clear outcome metrics.
Van Beusekom’s challenge is a good place to close. If there is no regulatory clock driving the next ISO phase, build the business case yourself. Define the outcome, the data work and the operational investment. Nail the basics, then scale the innovation that sits on top.