Articles by Central Banking staff
Salaries higher for monetary policy staff than markets specialists
Budgets for monetary operations/markets teams were larger, but monetary policy staff were slightly better compensated
Majority of retail payment systems lack real-time processing and settlement
Over half of RPSs in emerging market economies were owned by central banks, but in advanced economies this fell to less than a quarter
Majority of central banks charge RTGS usage fee
Annual cost of running RTGS systems ranged between $35,000 to over $16 million
Third parties often develop RTGS technology
Seventy-one percent of respondents said the technology underpinning their RTGS system was developed solely by a third party or in collaboration with the central bank
Payments department responsible for oversight of payments infrastructure
Heads of payments systems oversight often report to departmental head, but some report directly to the governor
Central banks look set to upgrade RTGS systems in the next 12 months
Nine central banks said they are planning ISO 20022 adoption
Over 50% of central banks actively regulate cost of payments services
Central banks with explicit payments mandate more involved in setting cost limits
Mastercard and Visa dominate card scheme market
Number of operational card schemes ranges from zero to 10
Limited adoption of ISO 20022 messaging in RTGS systems
Around a fifth of central banks said they use the emerging payments messaging technology
Half of central banks surveyed experienced RTGS outages last year
Most reported operating one contingency site
Central banks split on non-bank access to RTGS systems
Benefits of innovation must be weighed against risks of financial instability
Central banks’ payments operations staffed more than oversight function
Advanced economies tend to have higher staff numbers in both functions
Criteria for systemically important payment infrastructure differs
Thirty-one out of 37 central banks said they designate systemically important payment infrastructure
Oversight functions stifled by lack of resources, some central banks say
Skills and resources were identified as limiting factors, as well as the challenges of a recently formed oversight function
Scope of payments systems oversight varies
Almost all central banks are mandated to oversee systemically important payments systems but payments networks, international remittance services and fintech providers often fall out of scope
Communications Benchmarks 2021 report – executive summary
Insights into staffing and salaries, channels, social media, new technology and strategies
FCA asked to investigate ‘unwarranted’ bank account freezing
Parliamentary committee concerned AI may have caused ‘inappropriate bias’
Most central banks communicate in at least two languages
Central banks must weigh challenge of translating sensitive messages against reach
Comms teams grow in step with central bank staff size
But budgets prove to be more varied
Paper analyses eurozone consumers’ inflation expectations
Short-term views, trust and Covid-19 shaped medium-term expectations – Bank of Finland paper
Wide gap between some central banks’ communications budgets
But comms salaries are fairly level between high and middle income groups
Email top for internal central bank communications
In-house platforms, events and seminars also widely used
Officials’ public appearances ranged from rare to frequent in 2020
Central banks take different approaches to senior officials’ online presence
Trust and comprehension seen as more important than audience size
Central bankers see trust as the most important measure of communications effectiveness