Across many jurisdictions, fast payment systems are increasingly delivering real-time, low-cost, and widely accessible payment services. At the same time, central banks are exploring or piloting retail CBDCs, raising an important and timely policy question: what additional value should a CBDC bring in systems where digital payments are already functioning effectively?

For regulators, the interaction between fast payment systems and retail CBDCs is no longer a theoretical issue. It directly informs decisions on investment priorities, system architecture, and the long-term direction of digital financial ecosystems. Policymakers therefore need clarity on where a CBDC adds value alongside existing payment infrastructures, where it duplicates them, and where it may create new opportunities or risks.

This session will address these questions through a rigorous, evidence-based discussion grounded in a comparative analysis of Nigeria, Ghana, Brazil, and India. Drawing on his research, Dr. Gabriel R. Bizama, a digital finance specialist and researcher at the University of Bern, will illustrate how fast payment systems and retail CBDCs interact across different emerging market contexts. His work shows that outcomes vary, with systems at times complementing, competing with, or converging toward one another, depending on factors such as institutional trust, infrastructure readiness, and regulatory frameworks.