RTGS Global: The grand finale of “Games Of Payments”

Let’s be honest. I LOVE working in payments because it’s like living in Game of Thrones. Fintechs and Big techs challenge incumbent banks and battle for a share of their revenues. The challengers redefine their role in the ecosystem and form new alliances (like Google and these 8 US banks). And then, all of a sudden, something completely unforeseen happens! Seriously, isn’t it better than a Netflix show? 😊

Last week “episode” was no exception! It was like the grand final of Games of…Payments! And I was there thinking: “No way… what has just happened?!”.

Ok, here’s what happened. RTGS Global finally revealed more details on what they were working on: a global near real-time payment network that will also lock the liquidity required to settle the transaction. All powered by Microsoft Azure technology.

Finally! A true instant, and global, scheme is born, with no traditional banking parties involved! What an historic moment! For the record, all the real-time schemes today, including Faster Payments in the United Kingdom, or the Single European Payments Aera (SEPA) instant payment, are all pre-funded. Banks have to anticipate their liquidity need, which is a real hair-pulling activity. However, with RTGS Global, this complexity vanishes, along with the cost of locking unnecessary extra funds that could be invested somewhere else! Also, the network relies on Microsoft technology. In other words, it does not rely on the SWIFT rails, the traditional payment message network.

Payment veteran Nick Ogden, RTGS Global founder, played this very well by partnering with a reputable Big Tech. He also engaged very early on with regulators, avoiding raising doubts about the trustworthiness of the solution. Ripple faced this issue and as a result they never reached critical mass.

Still not convinced that this new network could really challenge SWIFT? Let’s pause here for the sceptical readers. Everything that Nick Ogden touches turns into success, like Elon Musk. He invented the concept of e-commerce, and democratised the access to central bank clearings with Clear.Bank. So, yes, I am betting on this horse, but will I refrain myself from saying ‘I told you so’ when we will implement RTGS Global in a year or two.

It’s not over yet…

And when it seems that all is said and done…This morning (Tuesday 8th of September), Thunes, another global network payment, announced that they just raised $60 million. Yet another competitor of SWIFT is ramping up! Honestly, I got my popcorn ready for the new series of Games of Payments!