Banks in 2025 are converging on three themes: instant money movement, richer payment data, and programmable financial infrastructure. Below is a practical overview of what changed or is changing, why it matters, and what to do next.
The EU’s Instant Payments Regulation sets hard dates: euro-area PSPs must receive SEPA instant payments by 9 January 2025 and send them by 9 October 2025, with verification of payee and fee-equality requirements staged in.
FedNow keeps scaling in the US: more than 1,400 participants by mid-July 2025, with quarterly volume/value stats published by the Fed.
High-value rails are going fully ISO 20022: CHIPS migrated in April 2024 and Fedwire completed a single-day ISO cutover on 14 July 2025, aligning US wire rails with SWIFT CBPR+.
Tokenization is moving from pilots to programs: BIS’s 2025 annual report and press brief highlight Project Agorá to use tokenized deposits with central bank money on a unified ledger for better cross-border payments.
Open banking is advancing but diverging: the CFPB finalized a US personal financial data rights rule in Oct 2024, then in July 2025 said it will replace that rule; the UK is formalizing a Future Entity under the FCA with the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025.
Operational resilience is now regulatory hard law in the EU: DORA applies from 17 January 2025 across banks and other financial entities.
1) Instant payments become mandatory in the EU
The Instant Payments Regulation (IPR, Regulation (EU) 2024/886) makes euro instant credit transfers the norm. Key milestones include: receiving SCT Inst by 9 January 2025; sending by 9 October 2025 (euro-area PSPs). It also introduces verification of payee and fee-equality with staged dates, and clarifies implementation details for PSPs.
What this means for banks and fintechs: modernize sanction-screening workflows, wire liquidity and treasury for 24/7, implement name-check, and re-price instant payments to parity with standard credit transfers in scope countries. The European Payments Council materials summarize regime impacts on PSPs.
2) US real-time rails: FedNow momentum
FedNow reports continued growth through 2025, with the Federal Reserve publishing quarterly volume/value series and noting network expansion past 1,400 participants by July 2025. For product teams, this supports use cases like payroll on demand, bill-presentment with request-for-payment, and just-in-time funding.
3) ISO 20022 is the new default for high-value and cross-border
SWIFT’s CBPR+ program went live in 2023 and continues through 2025; CHIPS migrated in April 2024; and the Fedwire Funds Service completed ISO 20022 implementation on 14 July 2025. Richer structured data improves reconciliation, compliance, and automation end-to-end.
For practitioners: banks should ensure downstream systems actually consume MX data rather than truncating it, and align with market guidance on receiving MX to preserve full remittance detail. Citi and industry guides call out readiness checkpoints and July 2025 milestones on receiving richer data.
4) Tokenization and the “unified ledger” approach
The BIS’s 2025 Annual Economic Report and press materials outline a next-generation architecture where tokenized commercial bank deposits interoperate with wholesale central bank money on a unified ledger. Project Agorá focuses on cross-border settlement efficiency and programmability. The direction points to regulated, bank-money-based tokenization rather than public stablecoins for core banking flows.
Recent commentary also frames Agorá as a way to compete with unregulated stablecoin rails by offering programmable fiat with settlement finality in central bank reserves.
5) Open banking: US uncertainty, UK consolidation
In the US, the CFPB finalized a Personal Financial Data Rights rule on 22 October 2024 to enable consumer-authorized data sharing and curb screen-scraping. In July 2025 the Bureau moved to replace that rule under an accelerated process while litigation proceeds, introducing timeline uncertainty for banks and aggregators.
In the UK, the FCA has issued feedback on the design of the Open Banking Future Entity and notes progress including the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025. The Future Entity aims to scale secure data sharing beyond the initial CMA Order scope.
6) Digital Operational Resilience is now mandatory in the EU
DORA applies from 17 January 2025, covering ICT risk management, incident reporting, testing, and oversight of critical third-party providers across the EU financial sector. This pushes boards and management to treat cyber and tech resilience as prudential issues, not only IT concerns.
7) What progressive banks should do next
Prioritize instant payments readiness: meet IPR dates for receiving/sending, implement verification of payee, and align pricing to equality rules where required.
Exploit rich ISO data: update sanction/KYC, reconciliation, and ERP/treasury integrations to ingest MX elements across CHIPS, Fedwire, and CBPR+.
Scale real-time use cases on FedNow: build request-to-pay flows, account-to-account bill pay, and just-in-time funding with fraud controls.
Prepare for tokenization pilots: map ledger interoperability, cash on ledger, and programmability scenarios aligned with BIS Agorá design patterns.
Treat resilience as a board-level KPI: close DORA gaps, strengthen third-party risk oversight, and test response plans for 24/7 payments operations.
Track open-banking timelines by jurisdiction: plan for UK Future Entity standards while monitoring US Section 1033 revisions.
FAQ
What are the most important EU instant-payment dates in 2025?
Euro-area PSPs must receive instant euro credit transfers by 9 January 2025 and send them by 9 October 2025; verification of payee also phases in during 2025.
Did US high-value payments really switch to ISO 20022 in 2025?
Yes. CHIPS migrated in April 2024 and the Fedwire Funds Service implemented ISO 20022 on 14 July 2025, complementing SWIFT CBPR+ migration.
What exactly is BIS Project Agorá?
It is a BIS Innovation Hub collaboration with central banks and private banks to use tokenized deposits with central bank money on a unified ledger to improve cross-border payments.
Is open banking expanding or slowing?
Both, depending on jurisdiction. The US finalized a rule in 2024 but is revisiting it in 2025; the UK is consolidating governance under an FCA-guided Future Entity with a new data-sharing act.
