Arun Kini, managing director for payments in Asia Pacific at Finastra discussed the evolving landscape of instant payments in Asia Pacific. He highlighted that the region has been a leader in instant payments, with the emergence of a second wave of immediate payments, including domestic schemes and bilateral connectivity between instant payment schemes. This presents challenges for banks, particularly those relying on legacy systems that don't support ISO20022 or 24/7 operations. From a business perspective, cross-border realtime payments bring additional challenges, such as dealing with foreign currency (forex) exchange rates, liquidity, and the need for fraud checks. Finastra has been working on solutions to help banks address these challenges, including offering cloudnative ISO 20022 products, assisting with liquidity and forex management, and launching compliance-as-a-service in collaboration with fintechs to address regulatory and anti-fraud requirements. He said Finastra's focus is on providing solutions that go beyond payment capabilities to address the specific needs of various segments, including retail, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and large corporates, each with its own set of challenges. It aims to support customers in navigating these dynamic changes in the payments market.