Geopolitics, A2A, AI and digital money: This is how the payments ecosystem is changing
In an increasingly fragmented world, payments are back at the heart of the debate: sanctions, sovereignty, A2A (account-to-account) payments, artificial intelligence, and digital money. We spoke with Juan José Gutiérrez, Corporate Director of Payments at Cecabank, a wholesale bank that provides infrastructure to banks, asset managers, insurers and fintech companies, with card processing, digital payments, access to clearing networks and international foreign exchange services, security and regulatory compliance.
Q: How is the geopolitical panorama affecting international payments?
R: Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, it has been understood that payments can be used as a weapon. Restrictions on networks like Visa and Mastercard or on systems like SWIFT showed that financial infrastructure also plays a role in geopolitics.
The world is being reorganised into blocs, with more controls and less interoperability. Meanwhile, Europe maintains a common and homogenising framework within the SEPA zone and promotes initiatives such as Bizum and its European interoperability in the EuroPA project. In the public sector, the digital euro project to gain sovereignty and resilience also stands out, in which Cecabank has already integrated its entities within EuroPA and has participated in various pilot projects on digital euro and CBDC.
Q: A2A payments are growing, but commerce is still experiencing difficulties. What is hindering its adoption?
Historically, the major barrier of A2A was the lack of immediacy: In commerce, you need instant confirmation to be able to deliver a product or service. That's why the advancement of instant payments is crucial, because if the transfer is validated in seconds, account payments can compete. The second challenge is user experience: Cards are fully accepted and very easy to use; A2A should be equally fluid, also in e-commerce with formulas such as "pay by bank transfer".
For businesses, competition between card payments and account payments will be a positive. Currently, account payments represent a new competitor for debit cards but not so much for credit cards due to their inherent functionality.
Q: Where is AI providing the most value in payments?
R: AI has been a part of the payment ecosystem for years, especially in fraud prevention, although it has now become popular with generative models. Its key role is to analyse transactions in real time, assign a risk score, and detect suspicious transactions. This analysis also influences the customer experience. PSD2 increased authentication requirements, but thanks to risk models and exceptions it is possible to waive a number of checks without increasing the possibility of fraud, reducing friction in payments. Customisation and back-office automation bring efficiency, but today its greatest value lies in security and fluidity.
Q: How will fiat currency coexist with digital money, and what use cases do you see as most likely?
R: In the short term they will coexist: The fiat infrastructure—SEPA, cards, SWIFT—will continue because it is robust. But some cases will migrate to digital solutions. Stablecoins can gain traction in international payments by operating 24/7 and being fast, especially when it comes to B2B and remittances. They will also bring efficiency to tokenisation and settlement. CBDCs are slower to develop, but they would strengthen sovereignty and resilience, like an "army" available in times of crisis.
