How Europe Won the Real Time Payments Race - Fintech Garden Episode 133

Igor Tomych sits down with Domenico Scaffidi, Member of the Bank of England Standard Advisory Panel and CEO of DS Payments to discuss the present and future of real-time payments. The two executives highlight the major changes in Europe’s fintech regulatory environment and how it reflects on the current and future states of payments.

Real time payments are no longer “just a new rail” but a full transformation.

Domenico explains that instant payments require orchestration across legacy systems, ISO 20022 migration, real time AML, liquidity, and verification of payee. Most PSPs are not equally integrated and the system only works when both sides operate at the same level. This shift makes real time payments a new way of banking, not a plug and play upgrade.

Europe’s advantage comes from standardisation, pricing discipline, and partnership driven models.

SEPA succeeded because the EPC set clear rules, pushed low-cost instant payments, and encouraged harmonisation. But the real unlock now is business model evolution. Banks and PSPs must focus on a few high value use cases, collaborate with fintechs, and build services customers will pay for. Payment experts must shift from back office operations to customer-facing roles.

Trust, fraud protection, and open ecosystems will define the next era.

Fraud is rising with real time payments, and consumers expect protection similar to cards. Stablecoins, CBDCs, and alternative rails will grow, but only the asset backed ones (USD/EUR or commodity backed) are viable today. 2026 becomes a consolidation year: strengthening fraud controls, scaling volumes, preparing for PSD3 and open finance, and expanding SEPA — all while keeping customer trust at the center.