We live in a fascinating time for those who, like me, have dedicated a good part of our professional career to observing, promoting and, to the extent possible, anticipating the evolution of the financial system. Specifically, the payments field is undergoing a transformation that is both accelerated and profound, driven by a confluence of factors that, acting in parallel, are redefining the very foundations on which the financial experience of citizens and companies has been built.
While it is true that the digitalization of payments represents a historic opportunity to increase efficiency, democratize access, reinforce transparency and promote innovation, it is also true that there are no less risks if certain balanced rules of the gameinclusive and that do not punish the most agile actor, but rather the one who refuses to adapt.
Immediacy has become the new standard. The decisive push for instant payments in Europe, with the aim of making transfers possible in less than ten seconds, is called to boost economic relations and to place payment service providers before an unavoidable challenge: to respond with modern, interoperable and open infrastructures to a citizen demand that no longer distinguishes between the physical and the digital, nor between the local and the global.
However, this revolution cannot and should not be proposed from exclusion. Guaranteeing that all actors, regardless of their size or business model, have fair access to these new infrastructures is an essential condition for that competitiveness is not replaced by a new form of covert concentration.
In parallel, we witness the transit of open banking towards a more ambitious model: the open finance. The promise of an ecosystem in which financial data flows, always with the user’s consent, between entities, platforms and services, opens the door to an era of unprecedented financial personalization.
However, so that this promise is not diluted between regulatory technicalities or corporate interests, it will be necessary to guarantee real and effective implementation of European regulations that underpin it, such as PSD3/PSR and the Financial Data Regulation (IFAD). Only in this way can we ensure that this opening results in more options, better service and greater control for the end user.
We cannot talk about the future of payments without dwelling on one of its most sensitive flanks: cybersecurity. As we gain efficiency, speed and scalability, risk vectors also multiply. The DORA Regulation and other regulatory initiatives in the field of digital resilience are a step in the right direction, but we must recognize that complying with regulations will not be enough
Constant investment in fraud detection technologies, close cooperation between entities and technology providers, and a culture of prevention will be the only effective antidotes against threats that, by their very nature, evolve faster than the legal frameworks that attempt to contain them. Nevertheless, To effectively combat fraud it is necessary to involve actors outside the financial sectorsince a good part of the origin of the fraud is due to the lack of adequate identification of the clients of social networks, and email and messaging applications. It is also necessary that companies that host fraudulent pages take responsibility for properly identifying their customers.
And then there is artificial intelligence. That magic word that seems to have a place in all debates and that, however, is beginning to show real operational maturity in the field of payments. AI, especially when combined with big data analytics, is demonstrating its ability to detect anomalies, automate processes and offer radically different user experiences. But its massive use also raises legitimate questions: what ethical limits should be established? How do we guarantee that decision-making is not dehumanized? Where is the responsibility when an algorithm makes a mistake?
Last but not least, I would like to briefly dwell on an issue that, in my opinion, should concern us more than what is perceived in the public debate: the digital euro. I have no doubt that the project promoted by the European Central Bank is based on good intentions, reinforcing monetary sovereignty, modernizing cash, facilitating financial inclusion, but we cannot ignore that its current design raises legitimate concerns.
The risk of banking disintermediationthe possible paralysis of private innovation, the uncertainty about user privacy, or the difficulty of explaining to citizens the difference between a digital euro and the euro that citizens keep in commercial banks, electronic money or payment entities, which are also “digital” euros, are not minor details, but rather structural aspects that can alter the competitive balance and citizen confidence in the system.
Spain has a historic opportunity to be at the forefront of the new payments economy. But, to achieve this, we need clear and proportionate regulation, open and robust infrastructures, and public-private collaboration that is not limited to paper, but translates into brave, informed and long-term decisions. Because the future of payments will not only be a technological issue. It will be, above all, a question of vision.
*** Arturo González Mac Dowell, president of the Spanish Association of FinTech and InsurTech (AEFI)