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Bank of Japan Presentation and Panel Session at the FIN/SUM 2024
Overview of "Future of Wholesale Payments"

July 31, 2024
Payment and Settlement Systems Department
Bank of Japan

On March 6, 2024, the Bank of Japan held a presentation and panel session entitled "Future of wholesale payments powered by Bank of Japan" at the FIN/SUM 2024 (link to an external website) co-hosted by Nikkei and the Financial Services Agency.

The recent years have seen emerging initiatives aimed at enhancing wholesale payments through incorporating novel technologies. Alongside this, when looking at settlement assets used for payments, new forms of money are also being explored. The three consecutive sessions, with a focus on wholesale payments, encompassed such key topics as the course of developments in this area, the emergence of new forms of money, and challenges of the current practice. Of these sessions, the panel discussions brought together business leaders, industry experts, and academics to illustrate the future landscape of the wholesale payments ecosystem.

Session 1 (presentation): Wholesale payments: past, present and future
The Bank of Japan set the scene for the two panel discussions to follow. Touching upon case studies, this presentation provided an overview of IT-led developments in wholesale payments leading up to the present while shedding light on emerging explorations of new forms of money such as stablecoins, tokenized deposits, and wholesale CBDC.
Session 2 (panel): Wholesale payments: challenges of the current practice
Inviting business leaders and industry experts who closely engage in and tackle challenges facing the current practice of wholesale payments, this interactive discussion addressed pain points of the current practice and explored ongoing efforts to enhance wholesale payments as well as remaining issues to be overcome in moving forward with such efforts.
Session 3 (panel): Future of wholesale payments
What are possible approaches to enhancing incumbent wholesale payment infrastructures? Looking further ahead, what would be the opportunities and challenges of emerging infrastructures? Delving into such topics in view of implications brought forth by technological innovations and external factors, this panel offered a high-level discussion aimed at illustrating the future landscape of the wholesale payments ecosystem, reflecting diverse perspectives from the business and public sectors as well as from the academia.

1. Date and time

Wednesday, March 6, 2024, from 1:30 p.m. to 3:40 p.m.

2. Venue

7th floor, Marunouchi Building Hall, Marunouchi Building

3. Program

(1) Session 1 (1:30 p.m. to 1:50 p.m.)

Topic:
Wholesale payments: past, present and future
Speaker:
Tomohiro Sugo, Head of Payment and Settlement Systems Division, Payment and Settlement Systems Department, Bank of Japan

(2) Session 2 (1:50 p.m. to 2:40 p.m.)

Topic:
Wholesale payments: challenges of the current practice
Moderator:
Shuji Kobayakawa, Professor, School of Political Science and Economics, Meiji University
Key Discussions from Session 2 [PDF 286KB]
Panelists:
Satoru Someya, Executive Officer and COO and CMO and Head of Marketing and Sales Dept., TradeWaltz Inc.
Masayuki Tagai, Managing Director, Industry Issues, Payments, JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., Tokyo Branch
Fernando Vazquez, CEO, SBI Digital Asset Holdings
Masashi Watanabe, Managing Director, Corporate Planning Division, Business Development Office, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Inc.

(3) Session 3 (2:40 p.m. to 3:40 p.m.)

Topic:
Future of wholesale payments
Moderator:
Noriyuki Yanagawa, Professor, Faculty of Economics, The University of Tokyo
Key Discussions from Session 3 [PDF 309KB]
Panelists:
Akio Isowa, Group Chief Digital Innovation Officer, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group (SMFG)
Shuji Kobayakawa, Professor, School of Political Science and Economics, Meiji University
Hajime Tomura, Professor, Faculty of Political Science and Economics, Waseda University
Naomi Takeda, Director-General, Payment and Settlement Systems Department, Bank of Japan

4. Inquiries

Payment and Settlement Systems Division, Payment and Settlement Systems Department

E-mail : post.payment-forum@boj.or.jp