Benchmarking
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
Viruses of a different kind: bolstering central bank IT frameworks
Remote working on a large scale had never been done before, but central banks appear to have successfully adapted IT and cyber frameworks
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
Sanctioned disobedience: the challenge of protecting whistleblowers
Most central banks have policies on whistleblowing, but practice and usage vary widely
Communications Benchmarks 2021 report – executive summary
Insights into staffing and salaries, channels, social media, new technology and strategies
Communications Benchmarks 2021 report – making connections
Data offers insights into staffing and salaries, communications channels, social media, new technology and strategies
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
Wide gap between some central banks’ communications budgets
But comms salaries are fairly level between high and middle income groups
Recipe for a chief (fin)tech officer
Private-sector experience, a knowledge of supervision and a zest for innovation are key ingredients for a chief fintech officer
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
Social media is top channel for two-way communication
Central banks use a variety of options to let the public give feedback and ask questions
Monitoring tools critical to measuring comms effectiveness
Facebook and YouTube remain most popular social media options, but some central banks are experimenting with others
Inflation reports more frequent than financial stability reports
Clear majority of central banks also use ‘layering’ in key publications