CPMI Defines Four Central Bank Roles as Digital Payments Evolve

The Committee on Payments and Market Infrastructures (CPMI), hosted by the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), set out four central bank roles as stablecoins and tokenized deposits reshape payment systems and central bank money remains the settlement base. The committee published the report Oct. 29.

The roles are issuer, operator, overseer and catalyst. The report identifies central bank money as the most secure and liquid settlement asset in systemically important systems. It also supports convertibility at par, meaning different forms of money can be exchanged at the same face value.

Private payment firms remain part of the system because they promote innovation and competition and serve different user needs. New payment arrangements can also create connections among participants that affect how credit, liquidity, operational and cyber risks spread.

As issuers, central banks decide which entities may hold central bank accounts, which services they can use and the terms. As operators, they may upgrade existing payment infrastructure or build new platforms while weighing resilience, innovation and implementation risks.

In their oversight role, central banks assess whether arrangements such as stablecoins function like financial market infrastructures. They also review those arrangements’ systemic importance, governance and operational resilience. As catalysts, central banks can convene groups to address shared problems and encourage common industry standards.

CPMI Chair Fabio Panetta, governor of Banca d’Italia, said central banks “cannot watch this frontier from a distance; they must understand change as it happens and, where necessary, help shape its course.”

The report sets out policy considerations, not binding global rules, and recognizes that national approaches may differ. It calls on central banks to consider how their policy tools interact and to maintain international cooperation as payment systems become more digital and connected. The position continues an earlier discussion of tokenization with central bank money as the settlement anchor by Bank of Spain Governor José Luis Escrivá.