Emerging tech and the future of payments with Swift’s Head of Oceania, Suresh Rajalingam

In brief

• "We are completely reimagining how transactions flow around the world, making it possible for banks to seamlessly work together, so that every payment can flow faster and further. It is all powered by transaction manager, which provides a centralised view of transaction data so that all participants can access it simultaneously in real time."
• "We have developed a solution with the community to enable CBDCs to move between DLT-based and fiat-based systems using existing financial infrastructure. After successful POC, this solution is currently in beta testing and we are also running a number of POCs with community to explore tokenised assets, interoperability between traditional finance and public or private block chains."
• "We as a community need to come together to create an ecosystem which talks to each other in a standardised way. So, as innovation continues, it is important for financial institutions to consider the interoperability of how their platforms can collaborate with other markets."

In this VISION by Protiviti interview, Protiviti Director Ruby Chen sit down with Swift’s Suresh Rajalingam, who heads up the Oceania region and a team covering 20 countries across the region. Rajalingam is a seasoned senior payments professional with over 22 years of business development experience in both the domestic and cross-border payments space. Here, Rajalingam discusses the rapid pace of technology, open banking, the payment ecosystem, the future of payments in 2030 and beyond, and more.

In this interview:

1:13 - Swift’s business model in the context of new technologies

4:20 - Areas of opportunity

6:45 - Removing friction in payments

10:52 – Opportunities and concerns in the international payment space

13:19 – The world of payments 10 years from now: Interoperable, or marked by “digital islands”?

For more insights on the Future of Money, please visit: https://vision.protiviti.com/