Greek Central Banker Urges Interoperable Cross-Border Payments

Bank of Greece Deputy Governor Christina Papaconstantinou urged central banks to keep cross-border payment systems interoperable as they weigh upgrades to existing networks against infrastructure for tokenized wholesale markets.

At a Mediterranean central banks conference in Roda de Berà, Spain, on Oct. 2, Papaconstantinou said those choices should reflect users’ needs, the limits of current systems and the benefits a new approach could deliver. She pointed to TARGET Instant Payment Settlement (TIPS) and the Eurosystem’s Appia initiative as examples of the two approaches.

TIPS settles instant payments in central bank money. Its cross-currency service supports settlement between accounts denominated in euros, Danish kroner and Swedish kronor. The technical solution was implemented in October 2025 and formally activated in June 2026 after testing.

A separate TIPS feature, implemented in June 2025, enables interaction with fast-payment systems outside the euro area. It operates under the European Payments Council’s One-Leg Out Instant Credit Transfer scheme and serves a different purpose from the cross-currency service covering the three European currencies.

Appia focuses on wholesale financial markets rather than everyday instant payments. The project is examining how tokenization, distributed ledger technology and central bank money could fit into a European financial ecosystem. It remains a design effort, while TIPS is an operating settlement system.

“Interoperability is a strategic safeguard against fragmentation,” Papaconstantinou said. She called for common standards and cooperation across borders as central banks consider new technology. Her remarks connected the work on existing payment systems with longer-term planning for tokenized markets.

The Group of 20 (G20) cross-border payments roadmap seeks to make international transfers faster, cheaper, more inclusive and more transparent. TIPS addresses settlement through an existing system; Appia examines the design of a future wholesale framework. The distinction shows why central banks are considering both improvements to current infrastructure and new ways to connect financial systems.

The Eurosystem plans to deliver an Appia blueprint in 2028 for a tokenized wholesale financial ecosystem using central bank money.