Reflecting on Sibos: A fireside chat with Icon and NatWest

Sibos 2024 opened its doors in Beijing this year, welcoming over 9,000 attendees from across the globe to explore the key trends and technologies shaping the future of financial services. Having sat down before Sibos to discuss their expectations for the event, Icon co-founder Darren Capehorn, and Mark Brant, Chief Payments Officer at NatWest, caught up after the show to compare notes and key takeaways.

Bringing the Industry Together

Sibos, once again, lived up to its reputation as the global premier event for the financial services industry, bringing the entire value chain together and representing the broad payments ecosystem.

In doing so, the event highlighted how payments transformation truly is a global priority, with financial institutions seeking guidance on where best to invest resources when it comes to next generation technologies. As Mark noted during the conversation, there were many people at Sibos this year “looking to understand what was available, and what was the art of the possible, in terms of transforming their payments stack.”

Realising the Opportunity of ISO 20022

As expected, ISO 20022 was a key theme. However, the narrative has evolved from last year, with greater recognition of the advantages it can deliver across payments, end-to-end. As Mark explained, there are many benefits that can be realised by having access to richer, more structured data, for example, to improve Straight Through Processing (STP), drive down costs and apply technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI).

In this respect, open discussion on how ISO 20022 is being used, and the common challenges that are being faced, is invaluable. As Darren pointed out, there are certain requirements (like ISO 20022) that are simply a “tax of being in business”, and there is nothing to be lost by sharing insights and key learnings that will enable the entire ecosystem to benefit.

Meeting Emerging Customer Requirements

Throughout the conversation, Darren and Mark also emphasised the importance of the customer journey. Financial institutions have a real opportunity to differentiate themselves in the market by designing payment experiences that meet specific preferences and pain points, but this requires control over the technologies that they have adopted.

As customer needs change, it is the ability to quickly and safely respond that will set financial institutions apart from their competition. As a result, and as highlighted at Sibos again this year, the demand is shifting away from ‘black box’ vendor solutions. To respond to the demands of today’s world, banks are looking for framework technologies that they can use to accelerate their own development of mission critical and future-proof payment capabilities.

To hear more from Darren and Mark, watch the fireside chat below.