At Paymeeting18, the discussions centred on one defining challenge: how to achieve interoperability in payments across Latin America. Real-time payments are no longer aspirational; they are becoming the default expectation. But the region’s financial landscape is fragmented. Banks, cooperatives, fintechs, and digital wallets each run their own systems, and connecting them has historically been slow, complex, and costly.
The keynote made a strong case that solving interoperability is the foundation for building Modern Payment Systems. Without it, instant payments risk becoming islands of efficiency with limited reach. With it, countries can create competitive ecosystems where innovation thrives, inclusion increases, and economies grow.
Why Interoperability Matters
The central theme of the keynote was simple: speed without interoperability creates fragmentation. A consumer may be able to send money instantly within one wallet or banking network, but if that payment cannot reach another institution seamlessly, the benefit is lost.
Interoperability creates trust that a payment will arrive instantly, regardless of the provider. It reduces friction, increases usage, and expands the reach of financial services. For businesses, it means suppliers can be paid immediately, even if they bank with a different institution. For governments, it means subsidies and benefits can be delivered to citizens across multiple networks without delay. For consumers, it means that choice of bank or wallet does not limit access to digital payments.
At Paymeeting18, this was framed not as an optional feature but as the mandate for modernisation.
The Internet Analogy
Speakers used the internet as a reference point. Information flows freely because networks are connected through open protocols. It does not matter which internet service provider a person uses; websites and applications remain accessible. Payments, by contrast, were built on closed systems. Proprietary formats, bilateral integrations, and batch settlement created silos.
Modern Payment Systems must move beyond this. The new philosophy is that money should flow as easily as data. This requires an API-Driven Financial Infrastructure that allows participants to connect once and reach many networks, rather than building custom links one by one.
Centralised and Federated Models
The keynote also explored the two dominant models for modernisation emerging across Latin America.
Brazil’s Pix is the clear example of a centralised model. Operated by the central bank, Pix mandated participation and created a unified system with near universal adoption. Its success is undeniable: more than 140 million Brazilians now use Pix for everything from peer-to-peer transfers to merchant payments, online shopping, and even recurring transactions.
Colombia and its BRE-B initiative, however, point to a federated model. Instead of creating one new system, BRE-B is designed to connect existing institutions, banks, cooperatives, and fintech wallets, through a shared settlement layer. This model reflects the experience of Transfiya, launched in partnership between ACH Colombia and Minka. Transfiya has shown that federated interoperability can succeed at scale, processing tens of millions of transactions each month and covering nearly half of the banked population.
Mexico offers a hybrid perspective. SPEI, launched years ago, has become a robust clearing system for electronic payments, but its extension into consumer-facing QR payments through CoDi has had limited adoption. The case illustrates how important user experience and ecosystem incentives are in driving success.
The message from Paymeeting18 was that no single model fits all markets. What matters is that systems, whether centralised or federated, are designed to interoperate, both within countries and eventually across borders.
The Role of Modern Infrastructure
A key part of the discussion was the role of technology in making interoperability possible. Cloud-Native Fintech infrastructure provides the scalability and resilience required for national systems. By separating payment initiation (the intent) from final settlement (the claim), modern platforms create space for fraud checks and compliance without slowing transactions.
Minka’s protocol illustrates how this works in practice. It is built as a Payment Switch composed of modular components that can be configured to meet local needs. An alias directory maps accounts to phone numbers or emails, simplifying the user experience. Real-time monitoring and reporting give operators visibility into every transaction. Fraud prevention is embedded at the architecture level. And APIs open the system to third-party innovation.
These elements are not just theoretical. They have been proven in live deployments like Transfiya, which has processed more than 700 million transactions without systemic fraud. The reliability, measured at 99.999% uptime, demonstrates that national-scale systems can be both open and secure.
Beyond National Borders
Another topic raised at Paymeeting18 was the regional opportunity. Latin America is becoming a global reference point for real-time payments, with Pix and Transfiya already cited as benchmarks beyond the region. But the next challenge is to connect these systems across borders.
Cross-border payments in Latin America remain slow and expensive, often routed through multiple intermediaries. A federated approach to interoperability could allow national RTP systems to interconnect, reducing costs and speeding up transfers. This would be a significant step for trade, remittances, and financial inclusion.
The discussions emphasised that building domestic interoperability is the first step. Once national systems are modernised and open, cross-border connections become far more achievable.
Regulatory Leadership
Paymeeting18 also highlighted the critical role of regulators and central banks. In Brazil, regulatory mandate was essential for Pix adoption. In Colombia, public-private partnership enabled Transfiya to succeed. In Mexico, limited uptake of CoDi showed that without strong alignment between regulators, banks, and fintechs, even technically robust systems may struggle.
The conclusion was that Central Bank Infrastructure cannot succeed without regulatory leadership. Mandates, incentives, and clear standards are as important as the technology itself. Interoperability is not only a technical challenge but also a governance challenge.
Conclusion: An Open Ecosystem for Latin America
The message from Paymeeting18 was consistent: interoperability is the foundation of modernisation. Real-time payments without interoperability only shift the problem; they do not solve it. By contrast, interoperable networks unlock inclusion, competition, and growth.
Latin America has already shown what is possible. Brazil’s Pix proved that a centralised, mandate-driven model can achieve mass adoption. Colombia’s Transfiya demonstrated that a federated approach can scale through partnerships. Mexico’s SPEI and CoDi highlighted the importance of design and incentives. Together, these cases provide a blueprint for other countries in the region and beyond.
The opportunity now is to expand interoperability within countries and prepare for regional connections. The technology exists. The results are proven. The next step is coordinated action between regulators, clearinghouses, and technology providers.
