Commentary
Central banks laying ground for multi-currency settlement
Africa leads as region with most RTGS systems able to settle multiple currencies
One in five central banks regulates stablecoins
Most respondents are indifferent on use of stablecoins for payment
Number of unplanned outages in RTGS systems doubles
Central banks with longest average downtime typically plan to upgrade system within a year
Two-thirds of RTGS systems now aligned with ISO 20022
Over 80% of central banks aligned with CPMI harmonised standards
RTGS systems with broader hours accessed by more financial firms
Number of non-banks with RTGS systems access doubles year on year
RTGS systems’ running costs linked to operational hours
Two-thirds of infrastructure still operational for 7–12 hours daily
RTGS systems process nearly 200 million payments on average
Transaction values average $11.6 trillion among respondents
Number of RTGS fee-regulating central banks rises
More than two-fifths of retail payments ecosystem were diversified in 2025
Non-banks lack central bank oversight in some jurisdictions
One in five smaller central banks lack oversight on all payment systems
Some payment departments struggle with staffing capacity
Payment teams from Africa and the Americas report highest staff shortage
Payments units have median staffing of 30 FTE personnel
Central banks say they are boosting staff numbers to keep pace with evolving technology
Three-fifths of central banks use strategic progress monitoring tools
Respondents with wider set of objectives report highest usage of tools
Central banks increasingly use KPIs for strategic planning
Practice more widespread in jurisdictions that link annual reviews to all staff
Strategic control processes often data driven
Processing is implemented quarterly or bi-annually across jurisdictions
Annual reviews usually linked to strategic plans for some staff only
Remuneration commonly not linked with progress on strategic goals
Team leaders increasingly involved in strategic plan implementation
Respondents commonly review plans and re-align objectives after strategic cycles
Number of dedicated strategic planning units rises
Larger central banks more likely to have dedicated units
Intranet and events are main strategy comms tools
Central banks widely use dedicated web page for external communications
Few central banks involve third parties in strategic plan development
Standard operational budgets remain leading source of funding
Disclosure and supervision are top ESG strategy objectives
Emissions monitoring broadly in focus for central banks with narrower plans
Strategic planning frameworks widely draw on Swot analysis
European central banks’ strategies tend to favour Pestel analysis