Richard Meszaros

Real-time payments are expected to generate $173 billion in additional economic output this year, according to the Center for Economic and Business Research. Cross-border payments are entering their “real-time era”—and in 2026 the biggest opportunity for banks is to evolve from slow, fee-driven intermediaries into 24/7 liquidity, settlement, and compliance hubs. This panel explores how banks can capture new revenue and deepen client relationships by delivering instant cross-border settlement, richer data, and embedded treasury capabilities—while maintaining trust, control, and regulatory-grade risk management.

The panelists will debate where banks can lead versus where they will be disintermediated, and which technologies will determine who wins the next generation of global payments. Key to this: Interoperability infrastructure—the combination of ISO 20022 + APIs + real-time compliance automation, increasingly paired with tokenized settlement rails, including stablecoins and blockchain-based networks. The discussion will include:

• Why the real opportunity isn’t “faster wires,” but always-on settlement and liquidity services
• The race to become the cross-border orchestration layer for corporates, fintechs, and marketplaces
• Where tokenization and stablecoin settlement will matter most—and where it won’t
• The role of ISO 20022, APIs, and data richness in enabling automation and scale
• Why AI-driven AML/fraud and sanctions screening becomes mission-critical in real time
• What a winning 2026 strategy looks like: corridors, partnerships, pricing, and operating model