Worldpay 2026 Global Payments Report (Worldpay)

Worldpay published the 2026 edition of its Global Payments Report in which it argues that global consumer payments are rapidly shifting toward digital wallets and app‑based rails, with cards adapting and crypto evolving rather than disrupting. The report documents rising wallet dominance in e‑commerce and at point of sale, regional variation in account‑to‑account systems, and the continued but declining direct share of cards as usage migrates into wallets. These developments sharpen questions about governance of national fast‑payment infrastructures, merchant routing and fee regulation, cross‑border interoperability, and the competitive position of bank‑issued cards versus platform wallets and “superapps.” They also highlight how buy-now-pay-later and card‑backed installments blur prudential and consumer‑protection boundaries, and how stablecoin‑based payment rails may need bespoke oversight alongside traditional systems. [Worldpay]

An Efficient Frontier Analysis of Stablecoin Reserve Management (VISA)

VISA published an article in which Ezechiel Copic uses an efficient frontier framework to show how new U.S. and EU stablecoin rules compress reserve returns and reorient issuer economics toward liquidity and resilience. The article models pre‑regulation reserve strategies using Tether’s historical mix to illustrate a wide opportunity set, then re‑estimates frontiers under the U.S. GENIUS Act and the EU’s Markets in Crypto‑Assets Regulation. Under GENIUS, a narrow set of high‑quality liquid assets leaves only a thin band of feasible risk‑return combinations, making reserve management resemble liquidity engineering rather than portfolio optimization. Under MiCA, lower euro‑area rates and binding bank‑deposit floors further depress and compress the frontier, especially for “significant” issuers. The analysis implies competition will shift from balance‑sheet yield to technology, distribution, and compliance, while leaving open how far reduced issuer economics may constrain market entry and long‑run innovation. [VISA]

Tokenized Finance (IMF)

The IMF’s Tobias Adrian argues that tokenization is a structural reconfiguration of financial architecture that shifts trust and risk management from institutions to programmable infrastructures. Tokenization enables atomic, real-time settlement and embedded compliance across money, banking, capital markets, and financial market infrastructures, compressing value chains but also accelerating liquidity dynamics and potential stress transmission. For emerging and developing economies, although tokenization may lower payment and market-access frictions, it heightens risks of volatile capital flows, currency substitution, and fragmented liquidity. The note emphasizes that the long-term success of tokenization depends on anchoring digital finance in public trust through clear policy frameworks and safe settlement assets, robust governance of code, legal certainty, and international coordination. Absent such anchors, tokenization risks amplifying financial instability through speed, concentration, and fragmentation, as contract-based risk management alter the nature of settlement, liquidity, and systemic risk. [IMF]

Results of the SNB 2025 Payment Methods Survey of Private Individuals (SNB)

The Swiss National Bank (SNB) reported its 2025 survey results on payment behavior among private individuals in Switzerland. The SNB finds that use of payment methods at physical points of sale is largely unchanged from 2024, with debit cards leading, followed by cash and mobile payment apps, based on diary and questionnaire responses from roughly 2,000 residents. For policy and cash-infrastructure design, satisfaction with cash access has dropped from 88% to 81%, likely reflecting the continued reduction of automated teller machines and similar access points, which may pressure authorities to reconsider minimum cash-access standards or incentives for basic cash services. At the same time, only 2% of respondents support abolishing cash, underscoring that cash still fulfills a demanded role in retail payments and resilience planning. [SNB]

And now for more backfilling, more of which is to come…

Do We Really Need the Digital Euro: A Solution to What Problem Exactly? (IEA)

[April 30, 2025] The Instituto Espanol de Analysts (IEA) published a book that included a chapter by European Parliament rapporteur Fernando Navarette, that argues that a digital euro is a mis-specified response to Europe’s payments challenges and should be downgraded to a contingency “Plan B.” He contends that the core problems—trust in money post‑crisis, overreliance on non‑EU payment schemes, and stablecoin‑driven currency substitution—are better addressed through institutional and regulatory reforms, wholesale central bank digital currency (CBDC), and pan‑European instant‑payment solutions based on commercial bank money. Navarrete stresses that retail CBDC is inherently destabilizing for bank funding, raises unresolved privacy and governance risks, and risks crowding out private innovation, especially if coupled with legal tender and complex “waterfall” mechanics. He instead proposes a three‑pillar architecture: private‑led interoperable instant payments, a narrowly scoped offline digital euro, and wholesale CBDC—leaving a full retail CBDC only as a last‑resort backup if private efforts fail. [IEA]

The eNaira Journey So Far (in 2023) (CBN)

[In 2023] the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) published a book on the economics of digital currencies in which there was a review of how the eNaira central bank digital currency (CBDC) was designed, launched, and managed. It argues that weak demand reflects structural and institutional frictions rather than purely technological failure. The review documents a phased rollout focused on financial inclusion, payment efficiency, and monetary control, but shows that limited interoperability, burdensome onboarding, and unclear value propositions constrained uptake. It emphasizes how institutional choices around wallet tiers, distribution architecture, and bank–fintech roles reshaped market incentives, often reinforcing banks’ dominance rather than fostering broader innovation. It highlights the need to recalibrate design toward open interfaces, clearer legal and regulatory frameworks, and better alignment between central bank objectives and private‑sector business models. [CBN]

FYI I produce a monthly digest of digital fiat currency (DFC) developments exclusively for the official sector (e.g., central banks, ministries of finance and international financial institution (e.g., the BIS, IMF, OECD, World Bank)) plus academics and firms that are active in the DFC space (commercial banks, technology providers, consultants, etc.). (DFCs include central bank digital currency (CBDC), stablecoins and tokenized deposits.) It goes out via email on the first business day of every month, and if you’re interested in being on the mailing list, please email me at john@kiffmeister.com.