The Lead
For most of the past decade, the payments story was about speed. That race is largely won: according to the World Bank, people and businesses in 137 countries had round-the-clock access to instant payments as of June 2026. The harder questions sit beneath the interface. Who operates the rails, and who can connect to them? Who carries the loss when a customer is persuaded to send money to a fraudster? And how do national systems connect across borders when nobody is building one global network?
This week we publish a three-part series on exactly that. The lead analysis looks at the infrastructure shift. The companion pieces look at scam reimbursement in the UK, the EU and Brazil, and at the bilateral and multilateral links now being built between fast-payment systems.
This week's analysis
Payments Got Fast. The Fight Is Now Over Who Controls the Rails
Fast payments are spreading, but access, governance and liability are not settled. Competition is moving from the interface to the infrastructure, and the outcome is unlikely to be one global rail.
Read the full analysis ↗Signals · 4 numbers
🛡 The liability
Payments Now Arrive in Seconds. Getting Scammed Money Back Still Depends on Where You Live
The UK reimburses eligible APP scams, the EU relies on Verification of Payee and a narrower future refund rule, and Brazil recovers funds through Pix MED 2.0. Consumer protection remains largely local.
Read the full story ↗🌐 The links
Countries Are Wiring Their Payment Systems Together. Nobody Is Building One Global Rail
PayNow, PromptPay and UPI are linked, the ECB is preparing a TIPS-UPI pilot and Nexus targets a first go-live in 2027. The hard part is agreeing who is responsible when a payment goes wrong.
Read the full story ↗🧭 Further reading · 6 items
Data How fast payment systems drive economic growth and financial inclusion Open story ↗ UK New protections for victims of APP scams Open story ↗ EU Payment services deal: more protection from online fraud Open story ↗ Asia Nexus Global Payments appoints technical operator Open story ↗ G20 Enhancing cross-border payments step by step Open story ↗ Archive Wero Is Taking Over iDEAL. Europe’s Sovereign Checkout Finally Gets Real Volume. Open story ↗On the calendar · 4 events
FTT Fintech Festival London 2026 London · 9 Nov MoneyLIVE Payments Europe Amsterdam · 11 Nov Singapore FinTech Festival 2026 Singapore · 18 Nov NextGen Payments & RegTech Forum Cyprus Limassol · 19 Nov