Bank of Korea Holds Payment and Settlement Systems Conference, Explores Digital Infrastructure Innovation

Innovation Cases Presented by the Bank of England, Central Bank of Brazil, NGP and Others

The Bank of Korea on Nov. 11 explored ways to innovate payment and settlement infrastructure for the digital finance era, including asset tokenization, cross-border payments and real-time low-value payments, with overseas central banks and private-sector experts.

The BOK held its 2026 Payment and Settlement Systems Conference at its headquarters in Jung-gu, Seoul, on the same day under the theme “Innovation in Payment and Settlement Infrastructure and Policy Challenges in the Digital Finance Era.”

Andrei Pustelnikov, a team leader at the Bank of England, presented in the first session, “The Future of Settlement Services in Response to Asset Tokenization,” and discussed the progress and experience of the Bank of England’s payment innovation initiatives. The Bank of England is conducting pilot operations of a synchronization-based settlement system, which links the existing central bank settlement system with private platforms, with the goal of putting it into practical use in 2028 to improve the efficiency of tokenized asset transactions. The initiative aims to ensure safe and swift settlement through the central bank settlement system, even when private platforms adopt different technologies and operating methods.

The Bank of England is currently testing the settlement of tokenized securities with 18 institutions, including the London Stock Exchange, and plans to publish related operational and regulatory guidelines next year. “Even as tokenized asset transactions expand, central bank money must continue to ensure settlement safety and finality, as well as the singleness of money,” Pustelnikov said. 

In the second session, Andrew McCormack, CEO of Nexus Global Payments (NGP), presented on “Trends and Areas for Improvement in Global Cross-Border Payments” and introduced Nexus, a project to improve cross-border payments in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) region. Nexus connects countries’ fast payment systems to a common platform to make cross-border remittances faster and more efficient. Six countries currently participate: Malaysia, Singapore, India, Thailand, the Philippines and Indonesia.

“Cross-border payment services are hampered in speed and efficiency by differences in national regulatory requirements, foreign exchange market conditions and data formats, as well as mismatches in payment infrastructure operating hours,” McCormack said. “With the goal of launching next year, we aim to establish interoperability between national systems and overcome differences in operating hours by applying common technical standards and operating rules.”

In the third session, held under the theme “Innovation in Low-Value Payment Systems and Future Challenges,” Jose Vicente Matos Santana, a team leader at the Central Bank of Brazil, presented the case of Pix, Brazil’s fast payment system. Launched in November 2020, Pix is an integrated payment system that supports real-time transfers and interbank payments 24 hours a day, year-round. 

More than 95% of Brazilian adults use Pix, which has become a leading payment method, accounting for 56% of all low-value payment transactions in 2025. “We achieved economies of scale by encouraging participation from all payment service providers, including banks and fintech companies, to prevent fragmentation of private payment services,” Santana said. He also cited low merchant fees, convenient phone-number-based transfers and free services for consumers as factors behind Pix’s success.

Santana said the Central Bank of Brazil is also pursuing user protection measures, including setting transaction limits, establishing a system for returning funds to fraud victims and tightening regulations on financial institutions, as financial fraud and cyber threats have increased recently. He also announced that Brazil is considering directly linking Pix with TIPS, the European Central Bank’s fast payment system, to improve the efficiency of cross-border payment services.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.