A broader payment-system map
The Bank for International Settlements published a Committee on Payments and Market Infrastructures report on 29 October examining central banks’ roles as payment systems absorb fast-payment networks, non-bank providers, stablecoins, tokenised deposits and programmable platforms. The report says private payment instruments can support competition and user choice, while central bank money remains the safest settlement asset for systemically important arrangements and supports convertibility at par between forms of money.
Four policy roles
CPMI organises the response around four central-bank functions: issuer, operator, overseer and catalyst. That includes decisions about access to central bank accounts, infrastructure modernisation, oversight of arrangements that resemble financial market infrastructures, and coordination on standards. The report does not introduce a new merchant rule or service. Its relevance is architectural: as new rails connect to checkout and treasury systems, access, settlement finality, liquidity and operational-resilience requirements may change. CPMI also warns that innovation can create new interdependencies and transmit credit, liquidity, cyber and operational risks differently.
What it means for merchants
Merchants and PSPs assessing new payment rails should ask where final settlement occurs, how private money converts to commercial or central bank money, and which entity carries liquidity, operational and redemption risk.
Read the original announcement
Bank for International Settlements · 29 Oct 2026This brief summarizes the linked primary source. Claims and reported figures have not been independently audited by Payment Guide.