Real-time is the new ‘business as usual’—how are liquidity strategies responding?

 

• How does the global surge in instant payment adoption—including, but not limited to, the European SCT Inst rulebook—reshape liquidity management and compliance for banks? What are the new threats and barriers, and which legacy practices are now obsolete?
  
  
• From the banking and treasury perspective, which weaknesses in current liquidity systems represent the greatest risk in a truly real-time world? What infrastructure overhauls, not quick fixes, are needed to deliver real-time visibility and actionability?
  
  
• With APIs and data streams, how can banks move from passive monitoring to predictive, dynamic insights for liquidity?
  
  
• As cash positions shift in real time and multi-currency pooling moves from theory to necessity, how should banks identify and manage exposures?
  
  
• With the industry moving from batch to instant—and from physical pooling to complex virtual account structures—how can banks ensure their operational controls and cash concentration strategies keep pace?

As instant payments upend transaction speeds and regulatory rulebooks multiply, the challenges—and vulnerabilities—for banks are intensifying across every geography. The coming shift isn’t only about processing faster payments, it’s about managing liquidity in a world where delays, blind spots, and “after-hours” thinking become existential risks.

On October 5, 2025, the SCT Inst rulebook will take effect in Europe—yet the impact of instant payments is already reshaping liquidity strategies worldwide. While many institutions have met the initial compliance requirements, the broader operational ripple effects are still being worked through:

• Ecosystem Blind Spots: Instant payment rails typically move faster than legacy liquidity systems can track or reconcile.

• Operational & Cyber Risks: Outage or breach now has real-time consequences, not end-of-day headaches.

• Data Gaps: Delays in reporting aren’t just inconvenient—they’re liabilities that can drive regulatory penalties.

• Lost Opportunity: With high-volume, low-margin instant payment flows, old ‘buffer’ strategies can quickly erode margins and tie up excess capital globally.

Banks and corporate treasurers must rethink everything from their technology stack to their real-time risk models. This isn’t just about smooth transitions; it’s about survival and relevance in a landscape where failures are public, competitors are nimble, and ‘compliance’ is now a moving target.

Register for this Finextra webinar, hosted in association with TietoEvry, to join our panel of industry experts who will go beyond the playbook, confronting realities of the instant economy.