At Sibos 2025 in Frankfurt, Finextra spoke with Isabel Schmidt, BNY’s executive platform owner for its payments platform, and Carl Slabicki, executive platform owner for treasury services, about advancements in AI, blockchain, and cross-border transactions.
Schmidt noted that BNY has transformed its operations through an evolving platform operating model. Teams of 10 work on specific problems in two-week sprints to deliver timely solutions. Although this new working model presented an adjustment for employees, many have welcomed the collaborative approach that fosters incremental development. This is part of BNY’s broader journey to shift focus from rail-driven requirements to prioritizing client outcomes.
“We define our success not just in terms of operational efficiency, but by what we can achieve for our clients—like how quickly we can process a payment or how we can reduce repair payments,” she explained.
Schmidt added that AI has been widely adopted at BNY, with nearly all employees trained in AI. Their AI platform, Eliza, boasted over 110 solutions in production by the end of September. However, she stressed the necessity of human oversight to mitigate AI bias, ensuring that checks always involve human input.
Looking ahead, Schmidt expressed excitement about the potential for innovation in the next six months, particularly in fostering creativity and new developments through AI.
### New Collaborations for Cross-Border Solutions
BNY has partnered with Sparkassen, a network of German savings banks, to launch Crossmo, a payment solution that provides an instant cross-border payments experience. This collaboration aims to reduce fees for the savings banks by up to 75%, enhancing their competitiveness.
Slabicki explained, “Crossmo allows users to handle cross-border FX and money movement, integrating our APIs for a seamless experience. It combines open banking and real-time transactions to create a robust infrastructure.”
He highlighted BNY’s commitment to connecting the global economy and facilitating seamless payments for clients. BNY has already implemented RTP and FedNow instant payments in the US and is expanding instant payment capabilities in regions including the EU, Australia, India, Thailand, and the UK for round-the-clock settlements.
Slabicki emphasized the importance of ISO standards in addressing fragmentation in cross-border payments: “ISO is critical for our collective journey as an industry to improve payment processes. If we all communicate in different ways, efficiency will suffer.”
### Major Trends: Stablecoins and Tokenization
Discussing industry trends, Schmidt mentioned digitized assets, tokenized deposits, and stablecoins, stressing the need for risk management to prevent fragmentation, particularly in global banking.
Slabicki noted that innovations in digital assets will transform financial services, making them accessible 24/7, unlike traditional offerings that primarily operate Monday to Friday. These innovations can facilitate lending, credit, and investment across currencies efficiently.
“Technologies like blockchain and asset tokenization will align the financial lifecycle with payment experiences,” he said. However, he cautioned that without interoperability—where different banks can effectively use various stablecoins—these innovations may lack value. A network effect is essential for the technology to create meaningful impact in the market.