Sibos Frankfurt 2025 captured a turning point in global transaction banking. After years of pilot projects, consortiums and regulatory experimentation, banks are finally converging around three common priorities — artificial intelligence (AI), interoperability and tokenisation. Across panels and side discussions, practitioners agreed that the next phase of innovation depends less on new technology than on how banks connect systems, data and clients into seamless, secure and compliant ecosystems. As the G20 2027 targets for faster, cheaper and more transparent cross-border payments approach, banks are building the infrastructure to meet them. AI and data reshape transaction banking AI has moved from experimentation to execution. Winnie Chen, head of global payment solutions for Asia Pacific at Bank of America, said the bank’s focus is to “help corporate treasurers make better decisions and improve efficiency and yield enhancement” by embedding AI and analytics into everyday workflows. Bank of America’s CashPro portal now includes AI-enabled tools such as CashPro Chat with Erica, a virtual assistant that answers transaction queries and has reduced hotline calls by 40%. Its Intelligent Receivables feature, she added, has “improved reconciliation by over 90%”, while AI-powered cash-forecasting helps treasurers manage capital flows. Winnie Chen, Head of Global Payment Solutions, Asia Pacific, Bank of America Mark Monaco, Head of Global Payment Solutions, Bank of America For Mark Monaco, head of global payment solutions at Bank of America, the objective is not simply automation but precision. “AI and data are applied in tools such as CashPro Insights and CashPro Forecasting to give clients more accuracy in managing working capital, liquidity and financing needs,” he said. The bank has also introduced a new AI interface, Ask GPS, to consolidate knowledge across its global payments franchise. Fabian Khoshbakht, head of treasury services for Asia Pacific at BNY, described AI as “the heart of everything we do”. Over the past two years, 98% of BNY’s workforce has been trained to use and create AI agents internally. One of them, Eliza, helps staff prepare for client meetings and automate research. “Our clients are the benefactor of all the work that we do internally,” he said, adding that AI also accelerates transaction processing and product delivery. Isabel Schmidt, executive platform owner for BNY’s enterprise payments enablement, explained that AI adoption is moving “from individual digital agents to agentic models”. The benefit, she said, is not only efficiency but “service improvements” that make automated processes faster for clients. At Deutsche Bank, Tsvetanka Nankova, global head of sales for institutional cash and trade finance, called AI “one of the most transformational technologies in global transaction banking after the internet and cloud”. The bank is already applying named-entity recognition in sanctions screening and automating document checking in trade finance with Traydstream. “Having the human in the loop is critical and will remain critical for us,” she added, underscoring the principle of responsible adoption. Fabian Khoshbakht, Head of Treasury Services, Asia Pacific, BNY Isabel Schmidt, Executive Platform Owner, Enterprise Payments Enablement, BNY From standards to interoperability: ISO 20022 and the API economy The November 2025 deadline for ISO 20022 migration dominated Sibos discussions. While most banks have achieved compliance, leaders stressed that true value lies in how structured data is used. Tsvetanka Nankova, Global Head of Sales, Institutional Cash & Trade Finance, Deutsche Bank Sunday Domingo, Global Head of Digital Channel Solutions, Standard Chartered Sunday Domingo, global head of digital channel solutions at Standard Chartered, said, “Migrating bank-to-bank flows under ISO 20022 is not enough if corporates do not also adopt structured, rich data.” With 76% of its traffic already migrated, the bank is “looking ahead” to help clients transition. Without corporate adoption, she warned, “banks cannot deliver the data-driven insights that treasurers need.” Domingo’s team is embedding ISO 20022 data into its Straight2Bank tools to provide predictive insights and corridor analysis. The bank’s AI Factory initiative gives teams access to large language models under controlled guardrails. “Without a well-governed data foundation,” she said, “it’s not enough that you’re building an AI solution.” Katja Lehr, EMEA payments, industry and advocacy lead at JP Morgan, called ISO 20022 “the language we are all using to understand each other”. JP Morgan is now the largest sender of MX messages globally. Structured data, she explained, enables automation of reconciliation and risk checks, shortening settlement time and improving transparency. ISO 20022 is also central to Bank of America’s own transformation. Phil Carmalt, head of global payment solutions products for Asia Pacific, said that “Swift GPI has been a great enabler,” adding that its integration into CashPro “has helped shorten the end-to-end settlement time”. For all participants, interoperability extends beyond messaging to APIs and ecosystem partnerships. Standard Chartered’s Domingo noted, “There’s no one-size-fits-all.” Some clients use APIs, others rely on host-to-host or Swift for Corporates. The bank partners with SAP and Kyriba to plug services directly into client platforms. BNY’s Schmidt described interoperability as both technical and organisational. The bank’s new single global payments hub “allows us to connect into multiple places” through its own rails or partner networks. By aligning engineering, operations and business under a platform model, she said, BNY can “deliver the right outcomes for clients”. Katja Lehr, EMEA Payments, Industry & Advocacy Lead, JP Morgan Manuel Klein, Head of Market Management, Payments & Digital Currencies, Deutsche Bank Tokenisation, stablecoins and unified ledgers If AI and data are transforming processes, tokenisation is redefining the underlying money. Manuel Klein, head of market management, payments and digital currencies at Deutsche Bank, said the industry is applying distributed ledger technology (DLT) in two ways: “making cross-border payments more efficient” through tokenised deposits and wholesale settlement assets, and exploring stablecoins as “a new form of money which can also reach the end user”. Deutsche Bank has executed its first live transactions under Project Agora and Partior, while supporting Swift’s newly announced shared digital ledger. “It’s an interesting approach,” Klein said, “because Swift has historically been only a messaging platform but is now entering the ledger and settlement piece as well.” Ashutosh Kumar, head of global transaction banking for Asia Pacific at Mizuho, echoed the shift from hype to implementation. “There’s renewed interest in digital assets, stablecoins and tokenised deposits; that is something which has come up in almost every discussion,” he said. Mizuho has completed an internal proof-of-concept for blockchain-based settlement between branches to test real-time liquidity management. He distinguished tokenised deposits from stablecoins: “Tokenised deposits are particularly attractive because they are backed by regulated bank money and preserve the banking model of deposit taking and lending.” Stablecoins, by contrast, “can raise valuation and volatility concerns”. At JP Morgan, Lehr highlighted the evolution of Kinexys, formerly JPM Coin, which provides blockchain deposit accounts and tokenised deposits for wholesale clients. Tokenised deposits, she said, offer “different safety and security” from stablecoins and are better suited to programmable business-to-business transactions. Mark Monaco of Bank of America described digital assets as “a new technology, an opportunity for us to improve our products and outcomes”, but cautioned that implementation must be secure and risk-based. “We want to make sure the solutions we put into the market are robust and can stand up to the volumes and the scrutiny.” All agreed that interoperability between public and private ledgers remains the biggest challenge. “I don’t think there’s any bank out there that will move to a public chain,” said Mizuho’s Kumar. “Everyone will have their own private chain. How do we make that interoperable? That’s probably the biggest challenge facing every financial institution globally.” Ashutosh Kumar, Head of Global Transaction Banking, Asia Pacific, Mizuho Danielle Sharpe, Global Head of Clearing, Standard Chartered Real-time payments and data-rich clearing The race toward 24/7 cross-border settlement has accelerated as instant payment systems proliferate. Danielle Sharpe, global head of clearing at Standard Chartered, said the bank’s strength lies in its “huge network of direct clearing memberships across 40 markets”. In New York, she added, “we are processing 86% of transactions within one hour, faster than the average according to Swift data.” Beyond traditional rails, Standard Chartered is focusing on on-book transfers and euro settlement for Partior to deliver “instantaneous certainty of payments”. Transparency, she said, is equally vital: the bank’s portals allow clients to track payments end-to-end, with guaranteed FX rates and “full value to the end beneficiary”. BNY is building out 24 × 7 FX payment capabilities under Schmidt’s leadership, enabling clients to “deliver these solutions for their customers” through a single global hub. At Bank of America, Carmalt said the next leap will be “true cross-border real-time payments 24 by 7 leveraging RTPS”. The bank is working on a roadmap combining its branch network, domestic instant rails and third-party partnerships. “Once we deliver this,” he said, “it will make a fundamental improvement — much lower cost, high transparency.” Deutsche Bank’s Nankova is pursuing similar goals through the Euro Banking Association’s One-Leg-Out (OLO) initiative, which allows one side of a transaction to settle through a domestic instant system. She also highlighted the bank’s DBX EverOn platform for 24/7 book transfers in US dollars and euros. All these developments feed into the G20 cross-border payments roadmap. As JP Morgan’s Lehr observed, “Connecting infrastructure alone is not enough.” Public-private cooperation will be essential, and “nine of the ten recommendations from our task force require input from regulators.” Phil Carmalt, Head of Global Payment Solutions Products, Asia Pacific, Bank of America Samuel Mathew, Global Head of Documentary Trade, Standard Chartered Digitising trade: interoperability, standards and ESG Trade finance, long regarded as the most paper-bound corner of banking, is now being rebuilt around interoperability and compliance. Samuel Mathew, global head of documentary trade at Standard Chartered, said the bank “combines its deep presence in Asia, the Middle East and Africa with industry standards and technology to modernise trade”. As lead of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) API standards initiative, Mathew developed protocols that allow banks and corporates to exchange data digitally, reducing discrepancies and delays. The bank’s trade-tracking solution enables clients to monitor vessel status and goods position in near real time, enhancing transparency and fraud prevention. Mathew emphasised, “Interoperability is key. I cannot overemphasise it. Platforms must start talking to each other rather than requiring separate memberships.” At Deutsche Bank, Borislav Ivanov-Blankenburg, global head of documentary trade and CEO of Central and Eastern Europe, agreed that legal fragmentation and cost remain barriers. “We have still a lot of legal systems and requirements which are purely paper-based,” he said. “Some countries are still on stamps and seals.” The bank is addressing this through modular, flexible systems that are affordable for small and medium-sized enterprises — “the backbone of trade”. He added that the next step will be tokenised distribution of trade assets, allowing smaller investors to participate. “Distribution became key, and tokenisation will most probably be the next step.” Deutsche Bank also embeds ESG and compliance controls “at the highest standards”, Ivanov-Blankenburg said. Compliance is “the hardest piece to digitise” because regulations change frequently, but “it’s a must. This is non-negotiable.” Borislav Ivanov-Blankenburg, Global Head of Documentary Trade & CEO, Central and Eastern Europe, Deutsche Bank Lavinia Bauerochse, Global Head of Sustainable Finance, Corporate Bank, Deutsche Bank Sustainability and inclusion in transaction banking Beyond technology, sustainability and inclusion were central themes in Frankfurt. Lavinia Bauerochse, global head of sustainable finance for Deutsche Bank’s corporate bank, said the focus has shifted “from green projects and green assets” to transition finance. “We are starting to look into the transitional activities of our clients. We call it transition finance.” She described sustainability as “a very strategic conversation” with senior management, aligning financing with science-based targets. The bank integrates ESG key performance indicators into trade, hedging and revolving credit facilities. Inclusion, she stressed, is “at the heart of our approach”, supporting SMEs and social projects from affordable housing in Asia Pacific to hospitals in Africa. Payments, Bauerochse added, are also “a means of inclusion”. Digital disbursement platforms improve transparency and reduce leakage, while green payment solutions can track and offset carbon footprints. Tokenisation, she cautioned, must be powered by renewable energy to remain credible. At BNP Paribas, Franck Dubois, head of Asia Pacific for securities services, linked sustainability with operational resilience. “Safety, security and trust are the number one priority,” he said. The bank is helping clients adapt to shorter settlement cycles such as T+1 in the US and T+0 in China, while automating private markets through partnerships with BlackRock’s Aladdin and NeoXam’s Data PRISM360. Distributed ledger technology, he noted, has evolved from “revolution” to “a technical component now embedded in the solutions we bring.” Franck Dubois, Head of Asia Pacific, Securities Services, BNP Paribas Asia Pacific leads in instant payments and collaboration Asia Pacific featured prominently in every bank’s roadmap. BNY’s Khoshbakht called the region “a real momentum builder”, citing growth in Southeast Asia and new corridors in Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore and the Philippines. “Clients there are starting to think very differently, even compared with 12 months ago,” he said. Mizuho’s Kumar emphasised that collaboration is essential as cybersecurity risks and regulatory diversity increase. The bank is strengthening partnerships “to share threat intelligence and align on standards”, reflecting his view that “transaction banking is all about the network”. Standard Chartered’s Mathew and Domingo both underlined the need to educate corporates in emerging markets. “Without investing in automation and ISO 20022 adoption,” Domingo warned, “it could become a competitive disadvantage as more businesses become AI-enabled.” Deutsche Bank’s Ivanov-Blankenburg noted that “some countries in Eastern Europe are more digitised than Western Europe” because they leapfrogged legacy systems — a lesson also visible in Asia, where governments and banks co-develop instant payment networks and digital-ID infrastructures. Collaboration, governance and the road ahead Across all interviews, one message was clear: no single institution can modernise global payments and trade alone. Bank of America’s Monaco said Swift’s shared ledger is “an example of the community coming up with new solutions”, reminding that its original purpose — connecting 200 banks in 15 countries — has scaled to over 11,000 institutions today. “The key question is what are those circumstances where working together is better than working apart,” he said. Standard Chartered’s Sharpe echoed this: “We can’t serve the world alone.” Collaboration, she added, is now as important as processing power. Deutsche Bank’s Nankova summarised the sentiment of many peers: “Cross-border payments are a network business requiring partnership between banks, infrastructure providers and regulators.” A new financial fabric Sibos Frankfurt 2025 made clear that the building blocks of the next financial fabric — AI, interoperability and tokenisation — are finally aligning. Banks are moving from fragmented pilots to practical implementation, using data standards and shared ledgers to connect national systems into a cohesive, always-on network. Artificial intelligence is transforming operations and client service; ISO 20022 and APIs are creating a universal language; tokenised deposits and real-time rails are redefining money itself. Sustainability and inclusion are no longer adjuncts but embedded design principles. The task now is coordination — turning innovation into shared infrastructure. As the 2027 G20 goals draw nearer, the world’s leading transaction banks are not only competing for leadership but collectively engineering the connective tissue of global finance.
