Payment Schemes vs Payment Rails
What are they and what do they do?
Last month I attended and spoke on a panel at Rivero’s customer event.
The event's theme was The Future of Payment Operations, and the panel discussion was on Payments Rails and Payment Schemes. As a follow-up, I shared some thoughts with Rivero on this topic, which you can find below.
Europe’s payment rails, like its many iconic structures, have stood the test of time. From earliest iterations, these technology frameworks have moved funds between payers and payees, creating a foundation for innovation and growth.
The terms “payment rails” and “payment schemes” are sometimes used interchangeably, which tends to conflate their respective roles and capabilities, according to Matt Jones, consultant and advisor at Payments Culture, a fintech and payments consultancy, who shared insights on this topic with Rivero.
Move Transactions
Payment rails are “literal rails that move…