Reshaping the global payments landscape
12 Nov 2025
Paul Li, head of payment innovation at Banking Circle, sits down with Tahlia Kraefft to examine how the proliferation of real-time payments, the accelerated adoption of tokenised assets in payments, and progress of the ISO 20022 migration are transforming the global payments ecosystem
Image: Banking Circle
A fragmented cross-border payments landscape
The global payment ecosystem is increasingly fragmented and complex, with 195 countries having disparate payment systems, competing infrastructure, and regulation differences.
Fragmentation — which occurs when there is a lack of consistency between service level agreements (SLAs) and interoperability between different payment infrastructures — carries higher processing costs for businesses, and delivers greater complexity, and poorer user experiences. Paul Li, head of payment innovation at Banking Circle, asserts that the firm hides the complexity of local clearing systems behind the scenes to provide an unified and interconnected API platform for clients.
According to Li, the firm has an individual approach of understanding local elements, as well as a global perspective from the outset. This strategy allows Banking Circle’s system to work across diverse local payment systems to avert the risks of a disintegrated framework with “10 different systems not talking to each other within an organisation,” Li states.
The instant payment revolution
Li states that 24/7 payments will significantly increase transaction volumes, enabling smaller, more frequent transactions. He says the trend is expected to generate new use cases, in a similar way to how mobile payments led to the rise of e-commerce. Banking Circle intends to maximise these new opportunities by providing seamless payment solutions according to Li.
He says Banking Circle is looking closely at all new forms of digital money like stablecoins, tokenised deposit and central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) to achieve 24/7 real-time payment processing.
The rise of real-time payments
Real-time payments have emerged as a revolutionary force enabling instant, secure, and frictionless transactions, shifting away from traditional batch processing. There has been a rapid uptick in global demand for real-time payments, with forecasts predicting the value of transactions using real-time payment processes to increase from US$30.5 billion (2024) to US$193.1 billion (2030). Real-time payments are also being used by firms with on-ledge assets and currents to steer economic growth.
The requirement for reconciliation — which is a financial strain for the sector and represents approximately 30 per cent of back office expenses — is eliminated by real-time settlement.
Li explains that Banking Circle is a key driver behind the real-time payment trend, supporting real-time payments in various currencies. The company aims to offer infrastructure-level capabilities to clients, cutting out intermediaries and providing direct support, according to Li
He stresses the need to support real-time payments seamlessly across different currencies to support the trend. He adds as part of his goal for Banking Circle in supporting 24/7 payments is going direct locally across digital assets including the fiat and stablecoin world.
Tokenised payments allowing real-time liquidity
The proliferation of tokenised cash using blockchain technology is transforming how payments can be settled internationally allowing an efficient, secure, and cost-effective method. Tokenising assets and settling obligations onchain can provide a streamlined operating model compared to current fragmented frameworks. Li emphasises stablecoins, which have surfaced as a global alternative to conventional payments infrastructure, as a key area of focus for the firm’s innovation efforts. He says they intend to integrate them seamlessly with existing fiat rails.
“Stablecoin is part of the payment,” Li says, adding: “We need to have that capability, but how can it combine or integrate very smoothly, seamlessly.” He notes their goal is to reduce friction between stablecoin and fiat currencies, to create transactions as simple as FX transactions.
“I have a stable coin, I have a fiat, and I want to do an FX just as simple as what is happening right now in the fiat world.”
Looming ISO 20022 deadline
The industry is shifting towards ISO 20022 becoming the global messaging standard, ahead of the deadline of November 2025, when SWIFT plans to retire its current Message Type (MT) message standard for payments. Li says Banking Circle sees this shift towards ISO 20022 — which seeks to create a single universal language for the majority of payments internationally — as an opportunity rather than a burden. He notes they are leveraging the standard to generate more precise payment messages.
Li adds they intend to use it as an opportunity to give more choices to their client, through combining it with agent tech payments to create more use cases for payments. Having their technology on the cloud, and being very scalable has made it easier for their firm to transition to ISO 20022, Li says, compared to firms employing legacy systems.
Growing voice-enabled payments market
Li identifies voice artificial intelligence agents as a key trend, allowing humans to delegate small payment decisions such as purchasing a coffee to AI agents. He predicts the use of AI agents to change commerce methods and require payment methods to be remodelled accordingly.
He notes: “That will change how the business or the commerce works, because the one that will make decisions change, of course, your marketing campaign, your payment method will need to change as well. Today, all the payment methods that we have on our mobile phone are designed for human beings, they scan your face, scan your fingerprint or whatever. But if it is an agent, they don’t have all these biometric factors, so they will need to have some new form of authorisation to the transaction.”
Li says the use of voice AI agents in transactions will raise many questions around the identity of agents, liability issues and the inability to hold them accountable for their actions including if they violate regulations. He highlights that Banking Circle is preparing for this trend by examining new forms of authorisation for agent-initiated transactions.
Evolving landscape of cryptoasset regulation
Li says global cryptoasset-related regulation is the framework having the greatest impact on how they develop payment solutions across different jurisdictions. He explains this as being a byproduct of Banking Circle exploring more and more how they can incorporate stablecoin into their business model in a larger way. Integrating stablecoins into corporate models is one way banks can meet demands to upgrade their product capabilities to support new client needs. Li stresses the need for regulatory trust to allow innovation in the banking sector. He reasons that banks are usually the beneficiary in an increasingly complicated regulatory environment, with them able to strike a balance between innovation and compliance. Li pins this down to banks, usually being the heaviest regulated entities, which in turn allows them to establish the most trust from the regulator.
The role of CBDCs in digital currencies
Central banks are exploring their own options for digital currencies. There is uncertainty about which form of money will gain the most market share, including the role of CBDCs, but Li highlights the increased choice that will be offered to users. He says: “No one knows who will gain the most market share or least. The important thing is that, as a user of money, we have more choices than ever before. That’s good because money now has more competition and you have more choices.”
Li Banking Circle is adapting to this evolving landscape by supporting various forms of money, including stable coins and fiat currencies.
The global payment ecosystem is increasingly fragmented and complex, with 195 countries having disparate payment systems, competing infrastructure, and regulation differences.
Fragmentation — which occurs when there is a lack of consistency between service level agreements (SLAs) and interoperability between different payment infrastructures — carries higher processing costs for businesses, and delivers greater complexity, and poorer user experiences. Paul Li, head of payment innovation at Banking Circle, asserts that the firm hides the complexity of local clearing systems behind the scenes to provide an unified and interconnected API platform for clients.
According to Li, the firm has an individual approach of understanding local elements, as well as a global perspective from the outset. This strategy allows Banking Circle’s system to work across diverse local payment systems to avert the risks of a disintegrated framework with “10 different systems not talking to each other within an organisation,” Li states.
The instant payment revolution
Li states that 24/7 payments will significantly increase transaction volumes, enabling smaller, more frequent transactions. He says the trend is expected to generate new use cases, in a similar way to how mobile payments led to the rise of e-commerce. Banking Circle intends to maximise these new opportunities by providing seamless payment solutions according to Li.
He says Banking Circle is looking closely at all new forms of digital money like stablecoins, tokenised deposit and central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) to achieve 24/7 real-time payment processing.
The rise of real-time payments
Real-time payments have emerged as a revolutionary force enabling instant, secure, and frictionless transactions, shifting away from traditional batch processing. There has been a rapid uptick in global demand for real-time payments, with forecasts predicting the value of transactions using real-time payment processes to increase from US$30.5 billion (2024) to US$193.1 billion (2030). Real-time payments are also being used by firms with on-ledge assets and currents to steer economic growth.
The requirement for reconciliation — which is a financial strain for the sector and represents approximately 30 per cent of back office expenses — is eliminated by real-time settlement.
Li explains that Banking Circle is a key driver behind the real-time payment trend, supporting real-time payments in various currencies. The company aims to offer infrastructure-level capabilities to clients, cutting out intermediaries and providing direct support, according to Li
He stresses the need to support real-time payments seamlessly across different currencies to support the trend. He adds as part of his goal for Banking Circle in supporting 24/7 payments is going direct locally across digital assets including the fiat and stablecoin world.
Tokenised payments allowing real-time liquidity
The proliferation of tokenised cash using blockchain technology is transforming how payments can be settled internationally allowing an efficient, secure, and cost-effective method. Tokenising assets and settling obligations onchain can provide a streamlined operating model compared to current fragmented frameworks. Li emphasises stablecoins, which have surfaced as a global alternative to conventional payments infrastructure, as a key area of focus for the firm’s innovation efforts. He says they intend to integrate them seamlessly with existing fiat rails.
“Stablecoin is part of the payment,” Li says, adding: “We need to have that capability, but how can it combine or integrate very smoothly, seamlessly.” He notes their goal is to reduce friction between stablecoin and fiat currencies, to create transactions as simple as FX transactions.
“I have a stable coin, I have a fiat, and I want to do an FX just as simple as what is happening right now in the fiat world.”
Looming ISO 20022 deadline
The industry is shifting towards ISO 20022 becoming the global messaging standard, ahead of the deadline of November 2025, when SWIFT plans to retire its current Message Type (MT) message standard for payments. Li says Banking Circle sees this shift towards ISO 20022 — which seeks to create a single universal language for the majority of payments internationally — as an opportunity rather than a burden. He notes they are leveraging the standard to generate more precise payment messages.
Li adds they intend to use it as an opportunity to give more choices to their client, through combining it with agent tech payments to create more use cases for payments. Having their technology on the cloud, and being very scalable has made it easier for their firm to transition to ISO 20022, Li says, compared to firms employing legacy systems.
Growing voice-enabled payments market
Li identifies voice artificial intelligence agents as a key trend, allowing humans to delegate small payment decisions such as purchasing a coffee to AI agents. He predicts the use of AI agents to change commerce methods and require payment methods to be remodelled accordingly.
He notes: “That will change how the business or the commerce works, because the one that will make decisions change, of course, your marketing campaign, your payment method will need to change as well. Today, all the payment methods that we have on our mobile phone are designed for human beings, they scan your face, scan your fingerprint or whatever. But if it is an agent, they don’t have all these biometric factors, so they will need to have some new form of authorisation to the transaction.”
Li says the use of voice AI agents in transactions will raise many questions around the identity of agents, liability issues and the inability to hold them accountable for their actions including if they violate regulations. He highlights that Banking Circle is preparing for this trend by examining new forms of authorisation for agent-initiated transactions.
Evolving landscape of cryptoasset regulation
Li says global cryptoasset-related regulation is the framework having the greatest impact on how they develop payment solutions across different jurisdictions. He explains this as being a byproduct of Banking Circle exploring more and more how they can incorporate stablecoin into their business model in a larger way. Integrating stablecoins into corporate models is one way banks can meet demands to upgrade their product capabilities to support new client needs. Li stresses the need for regulatory trust to allow innovation in the banking sector. He reasons that banks are usually the beneficiary in an increasingly complicated regulatory environment, with them able to strike a balance between innovation and compliance. Li pins this down to banks, usually being the heaviest regulated entities, which in turn allows them to establish the most trust from the regulator.
The role of CBDCs in digital currencies
Central banks are exploring their own options for digital currencies. There is uncertainty about which form of money will gain the most market share, including the role of CBDCs, but Li highlights the increased choice that will be offered to users. He says: “No one knows who will gain the most market share or least. The important thing is that, as a user of money, we have more choices than ever before. That’s good because money now has more competition and you have more choices.”
Li Banking Circle is adapting to this evolving landscape by supporting various forms of money, including stable coins and fiat currencies.
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