Real-time infrastructure
Always-on payments, liquidity and settlement for corporate and institutional use cases.
The Payments Summit
The Asian Banker Future of Finance Summit 2027 26–27 May | Hanoi, Vietnam
About the track
The New Architecture of Money, Liquidity and Real-Time Finance
The payments system is being rebuilt as money moves faster across institutions, borders and currencies. Real-time payment systems, cross-border payment rails, ISO 20022, programmable money, embedded finance and digital identity are reshaping payment infrastructure, transaction banking and liquidity management. Richer payments data is also changing corporate treasury, correspondent banking, supply-chain finance, trade settlement, credit assessment, reconciliation and payment-fraud prevention, while embedded distribution is changing who owns the customer relationship.
The Payments Summit 2027 in Hanoi brings together banks, central banks, regulators, payment networks, fintech firms and infrastructure providers to examine the next generation of digital payments. The programme will address scalable and interoperable cross-border payments, always-on liquidity, scam and fraud risk, digital-money regulation, programmable settlement and trusted, commercially viable payment business models.
Programme focus
Key issues to be covered
The most consequential questions facing payments, liquidity and settlement leaders across Asia and globally.
ISO 20022 & richer data
Turning richer payment data into competitive advantage beyond compliance.
Cross-border corridors
Correspondent networks and persistent friction in cross-border flows.
Liquidity & nostro
Settlement and nostro management in an always-on environment.
Fraud & digital identity
Scams, synthetic fraud, cyber risk and the digital identity challenge.
A2A & merchant economics
Account-to-account flows and the changing economics of merchant acceptance.
Programmable settlement
Stablecoins, tokenised deposits and programmable settlement infrastructure.
Embedded payments
Platform distribution and the risk of institutional invisibility.
SME & supply chain
Merchant and supply-chain access across emerging markets.
AI in payments
Fraud, operational efficiency, smarter liquidity, routing and customer experience.
Governance & interoperability
Commercial sustainability of next-generation payment infrastructure.
Audience
Who will attend?
The Payments Summit brings together senior leaders and practitioners shaping the future of payments, liquidity, settlement and transaction infrastructure. The programme is designed for:
Policy & oversight
Central bankers, regulators, supervisors and policy officials engaged with payment system oversight, digital money, interoperability and cross-border payment architecture.
Transaction banking
Heads of transaction banking, cash management and payment business leaders from regional and international financial institutions.
Corporate treasury
Trade finance, working capital and liquidity management executives engaged with real-time payment operations and client solutions.
Correspondent & markets
FX and financial markets professionals managing cross-border flows, nostro liquidity, sanctions screening and settlement risk.
Crime & cyber
Compliance, financial crime, cybersecurity, fraud prevention and digital identity leaders from banks, PSPs and infrastructure firms.
Schemes & rails
Payment scheme executives, network operators, processors, merchant acquirers, PSPs and infrastructure providers.
Fintech & platforms
Embedded finance practitioners, digital wallet providers and platform operators shaping payment and financial services distribution.
At a glance
The Agenda
Two days of dialogues, insight briefings and policy debate. Working agenda — topics and speakers subject to change.
08:30 – 09:00
Registration & Morning Networking
09:00 – 11:00
Welcome and Opening Remarks
Opening and International Keynote: Leadership Dialogue
Co-chaired by: Emmanuel Daniel, Chairman, TAB Global and Gordian Gaeta, International Resource Director, TAB Global.
11:00 – 11:30
Tea / Coffee Break
11:30 – 12:15
Can real-time rails transform the next phase of financial services?
Real-time infrastructure has largely delivered on its domestic retail mandate across much of Asia Pacific. The next test is whether these rails can evolve from consumer payment systems into foundational infrastructure for corporate flows, intraday liquidity, institutional settlement and cross-border connectivity. This opening dialogue will examine the gap between today’s real-time payment capabilities and the demands of the next phase of finance — where speed, data, interoperability, resilience and commercial sustainability will matter as much as reach.
- How real-time infrastructure across Asia Pacific has matured, and where institutional adoption remains uneven
- What always-on money movement requires in corporate, treasury and institutional contexts
- The policy and commercial incentives needed to extend real-time infrastructure beyond domestic retail use cases
- What financial institutions must decide now about their role in next-generation transaction infrastructure
12:15 – 12:30
Industry Insight Session
Industry Insight Session: Making real-time infrastructure work at scale
Briefing on the operational realities of always-on infrastructure, including throughput, resilience, settlement design, exception handling and the organisational changes required to run money movement in real time.
12:30 – 13:00
Is richer payment data becoming a competitive advantage?
The ISO 20022 deadline has passed. The question is no longer whether financial institutions can comply with the new messaging standard, but whether they can use richer payment data to compete. As structured data becomes part of the global payments fabric, the opportunity extends beyond compliance into fraud detection, AML screening, reconciliation, straight-through processing, corporate servicing and sharper insight into institutional flows. This session examines the post-migration challenge: whether ISO 20022 creates durable competitive advantage or simply resets the minimum standard for participation in global payments.
- Where ISO 20022 adoption stands across Asian markets, and what practical migration barriers remain
- How richer data is being used in fraud prevention, AML screening, reconciliation and corporate servicing
- How mid-tier financial institutions can capture value without the investment scale of the largest global banks
- Whether ISO 20022 creates durable competitive advantage or simply resets the minimum standard for participation in global payments
13:00 – 14:00
Networking Luncheon
14:00 – 14:30
Can money move across borders like data?
Cross-border money movement remains slower, more expensive and less transparent than domestic payments because the friction sits across the full chain: fragmented infrastructures, limited operating-hour overlap, multiple intermediaries, trapped liquidity, FX costs, inconsistent data standards and uneven regulatory requirements. Bilateral and multilateral linkages, improved correspondent rails, richer ISO 20022 data and new settlement models are making progress, but many of the deepest barriers remain structural. This session examines whether current reforms can address root causes or only improve the edges of existing corridors.
- Where real cost and friction sit in cross-border flows, and why many barriers remain structural rather than purely technical
- What corporates, SMEs and individuals need from cross-border flows, and how far current corridors still fall short
- How bilateral and multilateral linkages, new settlement models are changing corridor economics
- Why correspondent banking remains central, and where it still adds cost, delay, opacity and dependency
- Can current reforms meet the G20 goals of faster, cheaper, more transparent and more inclusive cross-border payments
14:30 – 15:00
What will connect ASEAN’s next-generation of payment corridors?
ASEAN has become one of the world’s most active regions for cross-border payment connectivity. Bilateral QR and real-time payment linkages are expanding, while regional frameworks and Project Nexus point toward a more scalable multilateral model. The next challenge is no longer whether domestic payment systems can be connected, but what infrastructure, governance, FX, settlement and commercial arrangements are needed to turn promising corridors into a durable regional network.
- What exists today across ASEAN payment linkages, and how bilateral progress relates to multilateral ambition
- How QR interoperability, instant-payment linkages could reduce reliance on bespoke bilateral integrations
- How currency conversion, settlement risk and intraday liquidity are being addressed across multi-currency corridors
- How central banks and infrastructure operators, financial institutions and non-bank providers can align on standards, oversight and incentives for participation at scale
15:00 – 15:15
Industry Insight: Reducing friction in cross-border flows
Briefing on the technical and operational requirements for cross-border transaction flows, including settlement design, FX conversion, sanctions screening, compliance data standards and the evolving role of correspondent banking.
15:15 – 16:00
What happens when account-to-account becomes mainstream?
Account-to-account (A2A) flows are growing across Asian markets, enabled by real-time rails, open banking infrastructure and mobile-first financial habits. As volumes rise, the economics of merchant acceptance, bank revenue, network strategy and dispute resolution are changing. This session examines what mainstream A2A adoption means for the competitive structure of payments across the region.
- Where A2A is gaining share, and what market conditions explain the variation across Asia
- The economics of A2A for financial institutions, merchants, payment networks and PSPs
- How card networks and financial institutions are responding through new services, partnerships and value-added propositions
- Fraud, disputes and consumer protection in A2A models without traditional chargeback infrastructure
16:00 – 16:30
Tea/Coffee Break
16:30 – 17:15
How do we secure money movement when fraud moves at machine speed?
Fraud, scams and authorised push payment losses are becoming harder to prevent as money moves instantly and attacks become more automated, personalised and convincing. AI-generated social engineering, synthetic identities, mule networks and compromised digital credentials are exposing weaknesses across the transaction lifecycle. This session examines how financial institutions and payment providers can strengthen prevention, intervention and customer protection — and how responsibility should be allocated when controls fail.
- How AI-enabled fraud, synthetic identities, mule networks and authorised push payment scams are changing the risk profile of real-time transactions
- How behavioural analytics, device intelligence, transaction monitoring, digital identity and real-time intervention controls are being deployed
- How regulators are approaching reimbursement obligations, shared responsibility frameworks and liability between financial institutions, platforms, telcos and customers
- How financial institutions can balance frictionless transactions with fraud prevention, customer protection, regulatory scrutiny and commercial exposure
17:15
End of Day-1
08:30 – 09:00
Registration and Morning Networking
09:00 – 09:30
When the machine pays, who is in control?
AI agents are moving from recommendation to action, including the ability to initiate, route and support payment authorisation within defined limits. This changes the control question in payments: who is accountable when software triggers a transaction, how consent is managed, and what safeguards financial institutions, networks and corporates need before delegating payment-related decisions to AI-enabled systems.
- What agentic payments mean in practice for payment networks, financial institutions, merchants, platforms and corporate treasury teams
- How consent, authentication, transaction limits and “Know Your Agent” controls should work
- Who is accountable when an AI-enabled payment decision leads to an incorrect, unauthorised or fraudulent transaction
- Whether agentic commerce strengthens the role of financial institutions as trust and authentication providers, or weakens them by shifting control to platforms and AI agents
09:30 – 10:00
Can corporate treasury operate in real time?
Corporate treasury has long depended on batch processing, manual reconciliation and fragmented banking relationships. Real-time payment rails are beginning to change that, but faster payments alone do not create real-time treasury. Corporates also need richer transaction data, API connectivity, virtual accounts, automated reconciliation, AI-powered forecasting and predictive liquidity tools. This session examines what real-time treasury actually requires, and how financial institutions can help corporate clients move from faster payment execution to better cash visibility, liquidity control and working-capital decision-making.
- What corporates need from real-time treasury
- How real-time payment rails, ISO 20022 data, APIs and virtual accounts are reshaping cash and liquidity management
- Where AI-powered forecasting and predictive analytics can improve treasury decision-making
- How banks can support corporates through smarter cash management, embedded treasury services and integrated liquidity solutions
10:00 – 10:15
Connecting corporate treasury to real-time finance
A practitioner briefing on integrating treasury systems with real-time infrastructure, covering API connectivity, virtual accounts, multi-bank cash visibility, intraday liquidity and always-on corporate payment operations.
10:15 – 11:00
Who owns the money movement inside Asia’s platform economy?
Payments and financial services are increasingly embedded into the platforms where consumers and businesses already transact — from super-apps and e-commerce marketplaces to logistics networks, enterprise software and merchant operating systems. As payments become part of checkout, reconciliation, lending, rewards and working-capital management, financial institutions gain access to high-volume flows but risk becoming invisible infrastructure while platforms own the customer journey, data and revenue opportunity. This session examines the economics, operating requirements and regulatory risks of embedded money movement in a platform-led financial services landscape.
- Where embedded transaction flows are growing fastest across super-apps, marketplaces, logistics, enterprise software and merchant platforms
- What platform-based ecosystems reveal about the future of payments, lending, insurance and working-capital services
- Who captures the customer relationship, transaction data and durable revenue when payments disappear into the platform experience
- How financial institutions can decide whether to act as balance-sheet provider, processor, compliance partner, data enabler or ecosystem orchestrator
11:00 – 11:30
Tea/Coffee Break
11:30 – 12:00
Can alternative data unlock deep-tier supplier finance?
Supply-chain finance remains underpenetrated, especially for smaller, lower-tier and unrated suppliers beyond the reach of anchor-buyer programmes. As supply chains diversify and working-capital pressure rises, financial institutions are looking beyond balance-sheet and credit-bureau data to assess supplier risk faster, more accurately and at lower cost. This session examines how alternative data — including e-invoices, payment histories, logistics records, tax data, ERP systems, marketplace activity and bank transaction data — can extend financing deeper into supply chains, and what still limits scale.
- Where supply-chain finance penetration is growing, and which supplier segments remain underserved
- How deep-tier financing can extend working capital beyond anchor suppliers to smaller, lower-tier and unrated firms
- Which alternative data sources are most useful for supplier credit assessment, onboarding and monitoring
- How analytics and AI can improve risk scoring, fraud detection, pricing and access for suppliers without traditional credit profiles
12:00 – 12:15
Industry Insight
Designing control architecture for digital money
Briefing on the control architecture required for programmable and tokenised instruments, including AML screening, sanctions compliance, digital identity, reporting obligations and governance at transaction speed.
12:15 – 13:00
Policy Dialogue: Who governs programmable money?
The governance of payment and settlement infrastructure is being contested across central banks, commercial banks, payment networks, stablecoin issuers, technology platforms and international standard setters. As programmable money, agentic payment models and tokenised settlement move closer to real use, the question is no longer only who regulates payments, but who controls the rules, permissions and obligations embedded into money movement itself.
- How central banks, commercial banks, payment networks and stablecoin issuers are positioning themselves in programmable settlement
- Whether consortium-backed stablecoins, tokenised deposits or wholesale CBDCs will define institutional settlement
- How payment rules, permissions and compliance obligations are being embedded into code, network standards and platform governance
- What financial institutions need to track in the regulatory pipeline before committing investment
13:00 – 14:00
Networking Lunch
14:00 – 14:30
What will make SME and merchant payments work at scale?
SMEs and merchants remain underserved by payment infrastructure, not only because financing is limited, but because acceptance costs, reconciliation complexity, fragmented collections and unreliable cross-border options still constrain day-to-day commerce. As real-time rails, QR payments, merchant platforms and embedded payment services expand, the question is how to build payment infrastructure that is affordable, interoperable and commercially sustainable for smaller businesses.
- What payment frictions still constrain SMEs and merchants, including acceptance costs, reconciliation, settlement timing and cross-border reliability
- How QR payments, real-time rails, merchant platforms and embedded services are improving access, and where gaps remain
- How PSPs, acquirers, financial institutions and platforms can build sustainable economics for low-value, high-volume merchant transactions
- What policy, interoperability and data standards are needed to make SME and merchant payments scalable across markets
14:30 – 15:00
When settlement accelerates, what happens to liquidity?
The shift from end-of-day net settlement to continuous, real-time and tokenised settlement changes how financial institutions manage liquidity, intraday funding, nostro balances and correspondent relationships. Recent live and pilot transactions using tokenised deposits and blockchain-based settlement infrastructure suggest that regulated commercial bank money is moving closer to practical use in payments and securities settlement. This session examines what faster and more atomic settlement means for liquidity, risk, pricing and the future role of correspondent banking.
- How real-time and tokenised settlement changes intraday liquidity, funding and treasury operations
- What atomic settlement could mean for nostro balances, correspondent relationships and payment pricing
- Whether tokenised deposits, wholesale CBDCs and stablecoins will converge or compete as settlement instruments
- How financial institutions should prepare their treasury, operations and risk systems for settlement that no longer waits for end-of-day processes
15:00 – 15:30
What will replace the old economics of payments?
The revenue model that sustained payments for decades is under pressure from A2A growth, interchange regulation, compliance costs, fraud losses and platform competition. At the same time, investment in resilient, always-on infrastructure continues to rise. This closing session examines what a commercially sustainable payments business looks like and which institutions are building it.
- How payment revenue pools are shifting across segments, channels and geographies
- The cost pressures created by infrastructure investment, compliance, fraud losses, settlement and capital requirements
- New commercial models around data services, treasury tools, embedded finance and adjacent financial products
- What the competitive landscape may look like over the next five years
15:30 – 16:00
Tea/Coffee Break
16:00 – 16:45
Closing Keynote
The closing plenary brings together delegates from all Summit tracks to draw out the key conclusions from the two-day event and identify the priorities that will shape the regional financial services agenda beyond 2027.
* Please note that this is a working agenda and topics and speakers are subject to change.
Get involved
Join The Payments Summit in Hanoi
Be part of the conversation shaping the next architecture of money, liquidity and real-time finance. For programme details, speaking or partnership opportunities, contact our team.