Tokenised deposits are ordinary bank deposits represented on blockchain infrastructure. Unlike privately issued stablecoins, they retain their full legal status as commercial-bank money, meaning funds remain within the regulated banking system. The critical advance demonstrated by this project is interoperability. Rather than each bank developing an isolated blockchain system, a limitation that had stalled interbank digital-money transfers for years, the participating institutions operated through a shared platform that allowed tokenised deposits to flow seamlessly between them.

The completed transactions included two remortgage completions and one simulated consumer marketplace purchase. In the remortgage transactions, Lloyds, NatWest and Barclays used tokenised deposits to automate fund releases. Once each property transaction reached completion, locked funds were released automatically without manual intervention, demonstrating the potential of programmable money to streamline settlement in complex financial processes.

Live Transactions Demonstrate Programmable Payments Across Banks

The consumer marketplace transaction involved a group of banks including HSBC and tested a scenario modelled on an online purchase. Programmable deposits allowed funds to be held securely in the buyer’s account and released to the seller only after delivery was verified. It is important to note that no actual goods changed hands during this test, the transaction was a simulation designed to validate the infrastructure and the programmability features underpinning tokenised deposits.

These interbank payments represent a significant operational proof point. The ability to programme conditions into tokenised deposits, releasing funds only when predefined criteria are met, has direct implications for fraud reduction, settlement efficiency and the broader architecture of digital finance. For payments professionals and financial-infrastructure executives, the project demonstrates that blockchain banking can operate across institutional boundaries in a live environment, not merely within a single bank’s internal systems.

Next Steps Toward Production and Digital Bond Issuance

With live transactions now completed, the participating banks are moving toward the next phase of development. The project plans to establish a dedicated company and develop a formal rulebook and governance framework to support the transition from pilot stage into full production. These steps are designed to provide the regulatory clarity and operational standards required for broader adoption of tokenised deposits across the banking sector.

Looking further ahead, the consortium of banks intends to issue three digital bonds in the first quarter of 2027. These bonds would be tradeable and settlable using tokenised deposits, extending the infrastructure’s utility from interbank payments into capital markets. That phase of work remains in the planning stage and has not yet been executed, but it signals the direction in which participating institutions aim to take this shared digital finance platform.

The post Tokenised Deposits Move into Live Interbank Payments first appeared on World Finance Informs.

The collaboration comes as financial institutions seek greater flexibility in cloud strategies while modernising regulated operations. Murex has achieved certification for MX.3 on Google Cloud, allowing clients to explore a broader range of cloud deployment models for trading, treasury, risk and post-trade activities.

Multiple Murex clients have already begun exploring the possibility of running MX.3 on Google Cloud. The development gives financial institutions an additional route for cloud deployment while supporting operational requirements around scalability, security and resilience.

Cloud Deployment Expands Across Critical Capital Markets Workloads

The certified environment is designed to support mission-critical capital markets operations across different regions. MX.3 workloads can include trading, treasury, risk management and post-trade activities, alongside data-intensive functions such as market risk, counterparty risk and intraday analytics.

The partnership combines Murex’s cross-asset financial technology platform with Google Cloud infrastructure and cloud-native services. This is intended to support cloud deployment at scale while helping financial institutions manage critical workloads and sensitive data within a resilient operating environment.

Security and operational resilience are also central to the collaboration. Google Cloud’s infrastructure and cybersecurity capabilities are designed to support firms managing regulated financial workloads, while automation and cloud-native services can help simplify deployment and ongoing operations across MX.3 environments.

For financial institutions pursuing multi-cloud strategies, the additional deployment option may help align technology decisions with operational and regulatory requirements. The partnership positions cloud deployment as part of a broader effort to modernise capital markets infrastructure without limiting institutions to a single cloud environment.

Financial Institutions Gain More Flexibility in Cloud Strategies

The move also reflects Murex’s wider investment in cloud-based operating models for the financial services sector. By expanding the environments in which MX.3 can operate, the company is giving clients more flexibility as they assess how to modernise critical financial workloads.

The cloud deployment model is designed to support scalable operations while maintaining the performance requirements associated with complex capital markets systems. It also allows institutions to consider cloud-native capabilities as part of their approach to resilience, infrastructure efficiency and long-term technology planning.

Murex said the partnership responds to increasing demand from clients seeking cloud environments that match their business, regulatory and operational objectives. Google Cloud’s role adds further infrastructure and analytics capabilities to the MX.3 ecosystem, including support for firms seeking to modernise trading, risk and operational functions.

The certification therefore represents a concrete step in expanding MX.3 cloud deployment options for financial institutions worldwide, while multiple clients continue to evaluate how the platform could operate on Google Cloud.

The post Murex Expands Capital Markets Cloud Deployment with Google Cloud first appeared on World Finance Informs.

Structure and Timeline of the Bond Offering

The dollar notes within this jumbo bond sale are structured across three maturity windows: 3-1/2 years, 5-1/2 years and 7-1/2 years. The euro-denominated tranche carries maturities of four years and six years. At current exchange rates, the total offering amounts to approximately $11.15 billion.

Fitch Ratings has assigned the proposed senior unsecured notes a BB+ rating. Fitch expects SoftBank’s debt levels to rise as the company continues to fund committed investments while retaining access to capital markets. The corporate bond financing effort also serves to replace a $10 billion bridge loan that SoftBank had previously secured to support the same OpenAI investment. By converting that short-term facility into longer-dated bonds through the capital markets debt route, the company is extending its financing horizon for this strategic commitment.

Broader Financing Activity Supporting the Investment

This jumbo bond sale forms part of a wider pattern of borrowing by SoftBank as it pursues its substantial financial commitment to OpenAI. The company has committed approximately $65 billion to OpenAI and has increasingly relied on debt instruments to support that exposure. In March, SoftBank entered into a $40 billion bridge financing arrangement for an additional OpenAI investment. It has since repaid $25.9 billion of that facility.

SoftBank has also expanded several other borrowing lines. A margin loan secured against shares in chip designer Arm Holdings was increased by $5 billion to $25 billion, while a separate credit line was expanded by $450 million to $6.5 billion. Apollo Global Management is reportedly in discussions to increase a loan to SoftBank by $3.6 billion to $9 billion. The company has also separately secured an $11.87 billion loan to help finance its OpenAI investment.

The scale of this jumbo bond sale underscores the depth of capital markets debt activity SoftBank is undertaking to deliver on its planned commitments. Citigroup and JPMorgan are serving as lead bookrunners on the corporate bond financing transaction. The offering has been launched but has not yet priced or settled, and the third tranche of the SoftBank OpenAI investment remains pending.

The post Major AI Investment Gets Backing From Jumbo Bond Sale first appeared on World Finance Informs.

Modern Core Architectures Supporting Continuous Banking Operations

Traditional core environments often depend on tightly coupled applications, batch-oriented processing and rigid interfaces. Real-time banking requires a different operating model, in which account balances, transaction records and connected services can respond rapidly as events occur. This makes fast payment systems an important catalyst for core modernisation because payment speed can expose delays elsewhere in the banking architecture. A payment may settle quickly while customer-facing channels, account updates or supporting processes still depend on slower workflows.

Modernisation is therefore moving toward modular architectures, API-based connectivity and event-driven processing. These approaches allow banks to introduce or update individual capabilities without necessarily replacing every component of the existing environment. Fast payment systems can then connect more effectively with account management, transaction processing, data platforms and risk controls, creating a banking architecture designed for continuous operation.

The transition also requires banks to consider how new technology can coexist with critical legacy infrastructure. Rather than treating modernisation solely as a full core replacement, financial institutions are increasingly examining phased approaches that introduce new capabilities alongside existing systems. This creates a more flexible foundation for real-time services and connects naturally with payment verification and safer transaction initiation.

Key Takeaway: Real-time banking requires core architectures that can process transactions, data and connected services with greater speed, flexibility and continuity.

The post Core Banking Modernisation Supporting Real-Time Banking first appeared on World Finance Informs.

The changing focus is bringing digital bank profitability closer to measures such as revenue per active customer, product usage, deposits and cost to serve. A larger customer base can create greater economic value when customers use more services, maintain balances and make the bank part of their primary financial relationships. Monzo’s FY2026 results, for example, reported £1.7 billion in revenue, £1.0 billion in gross profit and £183 in average revenue per active customer, alongside 15.2 million total customers. These measures illustrate how customer scale increasingly needs to be considered alongside the value generated from active relationships.

Customer Engagement Becoming Central to Digital Banking Economics

The shift toward digital bank profitability also changes how growth is evaluated. Acquiring another customer can increase revenue, but the economic contribution depends on whether that customer remains active, uses multiple products and generates sufficient recurring income to cover servicing and infrastructure costs. Payments, deposits, subscriptions, lending, foreign exchange and wealth services can each contribute to the value of a relationship, while technology, compliance, customer support and funding costs continue to shape the expense side.

This makes digital bank profitability increasingly dependent on the depth and efficiency of customer relationships rather than headline customer growth alone.

The post Digital Bank Profitability Bringing Greater Focus to Banking Unit Economics first appeared on World Finance Informs.

Continuous Settlement Bringing Greater Attention to Liquidity

The economic importance of fast payment systems begins with the timing of funds. Traditional settlement processes can leave businesses, households and other payment recipients waiting before funds become usable, creating a need for additional liquidity buffers. Continuous settlement can shorten that interval, potentially allowing businesses to reuse incoming funds sooner, improve working-capital turnover and reduce the amount of money that must remain idle to cover settlement delays. This becomes particularly relevant where fast payments are integrated into supplier payments, merchant transactions, payroll or government disbursements.

The World Bank’s framework also points to fast payment systems as a potential source of information acceleration. More immediate transaction records can improve visibility into cash flows and economic activity when supported by appropriate consent, privacy and data-governance arrangements. Together, these mechanisms suggest that the significance of fast payments is extending from transaction speed toward the broader movement and availability of money across the economy.

Key Takeaway: The broader infrastructure role of fast payments can arise from both quicker movement of funds and faster availability of transaction information.

Fast Payments Taking on a Broader Infrastructure Role

The growing role of fast payment systems reflects a broader change in how payment infrastructure interacts with economic activity. Their significance extends beyond transaction speed as continuous availability can shorten the time between payment initiation and usable funds, while transaction data can provide more immediate visibility into cash flows. However, these potential effects depend on adoption, interoperability, integration and the governance frameworks surrounding the systems.

The macroeconomic role of fast payments should therefore be viewed as an emerging infrastructure development rather than a fully established economic outcome. As financial institutions modernise the systems supporting real-time transactions, the connection between payment infrastructure and core banking operations becomes increasingly important, linking the development to real-time banking capabilities.

For World Finance Informs, the development highlights how payment infrastructure is becoming more closely connected with the wider functioning of the digital financial system.

The post Fast Payment Systems Becoming Part of Macroeconomic Infrastructure first appeared on World Finance Informs.

Fast Payments Increasing Frequency While Cards Retain Established Roles

The divergence becomes clearer when transaction frequency is considered alongside the underlying payment method. BIS data show that fast payments are increasingly being used for small-value transactions in both advanced and emerging economies, giving these systems a growing role in frequent retail and account-to-account payments. In emerging and developing economies, fast payments accounted for a substantially larger share of cashless transaction volume than in advanced economies, reflecting differences in payment infrastructure, adoption and use cases.

At the same time, instant payments and card payments can continue expanding within the same market because they serve different transaction needs. Cards remain deeply embedded in retail payment activity across mature digital markets, while instant-payment systems can capture payments where immediate account-to-account settlement, mobile interfaces or continuous availability are more relevant. ECB data illustrate this coexistence: cards accounted for 57% of euro-area non-cash payment transactions in the second half of 2025, even as instant credit transfers continued to increase within the broader credit-transfer category.

This also highlights why transaction volume cannot be viewed independently from transaction value. A payment system may process a very large number of relatively small transactions without carrying the majority of the financial value moving through an economy. As instant payments and card payments continue developing across different use cases, the global payment ecosystem is therefore becoming more differentiated by transaction frequency, value and purpose rather than converging on a single dominant payment model.

Transaction Volume and Value Revealing Different Payment Profiles

The divergence between instant payments and card payments becomes clearer when transaction volume is examined alongside transaction value. BIS data show that fast payments are increasingly used for small-value transactions across both advanced economies and emerging market and developing economies, while cards continue to account for a large proportion of frequent retail payments in advanced economies. The underlying difference is therefore not simply how many transactions each rail processes, but the types and values of payments flowing through them. A growing number of instant payments can reflect frequent, lower-value transactions without corresponding to an equivalent share of overall payment value.

The euro area provides evidence of this separation between frequency and financial value. In the second half of 2025, card payments accounted for 57% of non-cash transactions, while credit transfers accounted for 21%. Yet credit transfers represented 92% of the total value of non-cash payments because higher-value payments are generally conducted through that channel. This demonstrates why instant payments and card payments should be assessed through both transaction frequency and value rather than through volume alone.

Global Payment Activity Showing Increasingly Different Transaction Characteristics

The contrast also reflects different payment behaviours across markets. BIS research shows that cards remain the main driver of cashless-payment growth in advanced economies, while credit transfers, supported increasingly by fast-payment systems, are growing more rapidly in emerging and developing economies. At the same time, consumer behaviour can remain relatively stable even as new payment infrastructure expands. The Federal Reserve’s latest U.S. consumer-payment research found that credit and debit cards together continued to account for two-thirds of consumer payments in 2025, illustrating the persistence of established card usage within a changing digital ecosystem.

instant payments and card payments are therefore developing alongside one another through different combinations of frequency, value and use case. For the wider shift toward continuous digital settlement, this distinction connects with the growing macro-level role of fast payment systems.

Key Takeaway: Payment systems are developing different transaction profiles globally, with card use remaining prominent in advanced economies while fast payments account for a larger share of transaction activity in emerging and developing economies.

The post Instant Payments and Card Payments Showing Diverging Transaction Patterns first appeared on World Finance Informs.

Pricing can differ between the payment rail, participating financial institutions and the merchant-facing service. A rail may charge participating institutions while a payment service provider separately prices the merchant service. In other models, merchants may face no direct charge because operating costs are supported through subsidies, participant fees or other revenue streams. This makes merchant fees part of a wider economic model rather than a standalone transaction cost.

Pricing Models Balancing Merchant Access and Rail Sustainability

Global fast-payment systems use zero-fee arrangements, regulated charges and selective pricing for particular transactions. Research from the Bank for International Settlements shows that pricing decisions can influence adoption incentives and the financial sustainability of fast-payment systems. Where transaction charges are kept very low, providers may need other revenue sources or financial support to fund infrastructure, security and ongoing development.

The issue is therefore less about whether instant payments should be free and more about how pricing affects the wider ecosystem. A fee that supports merchant acceptance still needs to fit within a sustainable operating model. The relationship between these factors also provides a natural bridge to transaction patterns across instant and card payments.

Key Takeaway: Merchant pricing is one part of a wider fast-payment economic model connecting merchant affordability, provider incentives and the costs of operating the payment rail.

Merchant Pricing Models Creating Different Economic Trade-Offs

The economics of instant-payment rails differ significantly depending on how costs are distributed among merchants, payment service providers and other participants. merchant fees can be set at zero, structured as a percentage of transaction value, capped at a defined amount, or applied only to specific transaction categories. These approaches can influence how attractive instant payments are for merchants while also affecting the revenue available to providers supporting the payment service.

Zero-fee models can encourage merchant acceptance, but they do not remove the underlying cost of operating the payment ecosystem. Infrastructure, connectivity, fraud controls, cybersecurity, compliance and system development still require funding. Research from the Bank for International Settlements notes that where fast-payment transactions are offered without direct fees, alternative revenue sources or external support may be required to maintain financial sustainability. This makes the structure of merchant fees relevant not only to merchants but also to the longer-term economics of the payment rail.

Merchant Charges Interacting with Payment Service Economics

The relationship between merchant fees and payment-system costs also depends on where the charge is applied. A fee imposed at the rail level may be paid by participating financial institutions rather than directly by merchants, while merchant-facing providers can add their own charges for processing, integration or related services. As a result, the headline price of an instant-payment transaction does not necessarily represent the total cost of acceptance for a business.

Recent pricing developments illustrate how different models are emerging. Some fast-payment systems continue to support free or very low-cost merchant transactions, while others are introducing selective charges for particular categories. The underlying economic question is whether pricing can maintain merchant access while giving payment providers sufficient incentives to invest in secure, resilient infrastructure and additional services.

For merchants, the calculation can also extend beyond the transaction fee itself. Faster settlement may affect the timing of funds availability, while digital reconciliation and payment processing can influence operating costs. The economics therefore depend on how the instant-payment service combines its direct price with the wider value and costs associated with accepting the rail.

Merchant Pricing Becoming Part of Long-Term Instant Payment Economics

The economics of instant-payment rails increasingly depend on how costs are distributed across merchants, payment providers and other participants. merchant fees can influence acceptance decisions, while the absence of direct charges can shift funding requirements toward subsidies, participant fees or alternative revenue streams.

The broader issue is finding pricing structures that support accessible payment acceptance without weakening the financial sustainability of the underlying service. As instant payments expand, providers also need to account for infrastructure, security, fraud management, system resilience and ongoing development.

For merchants, the cost calculation extends beyond the headline transaction fee and can include settlement, processing and operational considerations. This makes pricing an important part of how instant-payment systems develop commercially, while different markets continue to use different models according to their regulatory and business structures.

For World Finance Informs, the development highlights how the economics of payment acceptance are becoming an increasingly important part of the wider real-time payments landscape.

The post Merchant Fees Reshaping the Economics of Instant Payment Rails first appeared on World Finance Informs.

The post Verification of Payee Becoming Part of the Instant Payment Journey first appeared on World Finance Informs.

Expanding Tools to Attract Institutional Capital

Central to the growth in private capital mobilisation is the World Bank Group Guarantee Platform, which issued more than $25 billion in guarantees during FY2026. The platform is designed to reduce risk for private investors entering markets they might otherwise avoid, using the World Bank Group’s credit standing to back sovereign and sub-sovereign obligations. By offering guarantees alongside local-currency financing options and equity instruments, the institution is working to build investment structures that appeal to pension funds, insurance companies and asset managers seeking exposure to developing economies without bearing the full spectrum of frontier-market risk.

The institution is also advancing what it describes as an originate-to-distribute approach. Under this model, the International Finance Corporation and other arms of the World Bank Group originate investments in developing economies and then package and distribute them to institutional investors at greater scale. The approach is intended to create a pipeline of bankable assets that meet the risk-return requirements of large allocators, effectively broadening the pool of capital available for development.

A concrete example of this strategy in action is the recent financing involving Banco Industrial in Guatemala. IFC backing helped the financial institution access international capital markets, demonstrating how blended structures and credit support from multilateral bodies can open doors for borrowers in smaller or less liquid markets. Transactions of this kind illustrate how private capital mobilisation works in practice, connecting local financial institutions with global investors through standardised and replicable deal structures.

Geographic Reach and Remaining Gaps

World Bank data shows that private capital mobilisation in FY2026 reached $22 billion in Africa, $37 billion in lower-middle-income countries and $50 billion in upper-middle-income countries. These figures reflect meaningful progress in directing capital toward regions that have historically struggled to attract private investment at scale. However, private capital mobilisation in low-income countries remained around $3 billion, underscoring the persistent difficulty of drawing commercial finance into the most challenging environments. Observers have noted that while the overall trajectory is positive, the concentration of flows in middle-income markets raises questions about whether the benefits of private capital mobilisation are reaching the economies that need them most.

The World Bank Group has stated its ambition to mobilise more than $200 billion in private capital within two to three years. This target reflects the institution’s broader strategy of positioning itself not primarily as a lender but as a platform for crowding in private finance. Whether that ambition is achievable will depend on sustained demand from institutional investors, continued innovation in guarantee and distribution instruments, and the ability to scale successful models like the Banco Industrial transaction across a wider range of countries and sectors. For now, the $112 billion milestone in FY2026 represents the clearest evidence yet that the strategy of private capital mobilisation is gaining traction across developing economies.

The post World Bank Reaches Record Private Capital Mobilisation first appeared on World Finance Informs.