Tracking Transformation: The Evolution of Central Bank Payments News – Jordan Taylor [Season 3 | Episode #02]

Hurin Nawawi 00:00:33 Hi everyone and welcome back to the Pit Exchange. My name is Hurin Nawawi and I am your host for today’s episode. I hope it’s not too late to wish you guys Happy New Year, and I hope that your year is off to a great start and that you had a chance to recharge over the holidays. So for today’s episode, we are actually going to talk about central bank payments news and I am joined by Jordan Taylor, our content specialist and senior editor at central Bank Payments News. Jordan, great to have you with us today.

Jordan Taylor 00:01:09 Well, thank you very much for the invitation, and it’s a pleasure to be back here on the exchange.

Jordan Taylor 00:01:15 And I look forward to talking a little bit about central bank payments news.

Hurin Nawawi 00:01:19 So, Jordan, to kick things off for anyone who might be hearing about central bank payments news for the first time, maybe you could give us a quick overview of what central bank payment uses.

Jordan Taylor 00:01:31 Sure. Happy to give you a little background on the publication. So we are a monthly digital publication. I know that sort of goes without saying these days, but we publish every month. We’ve been doing so since September of 2018. So we’ve been at this a little while. And each month, every issue we feature 2 or 3 typically Publications articles rather from central banks or financial market infrastructures. Global payment service providers, consultants, you name it, who have updates on initiatives or projects that they’ve been working on. Thoughts that they might have. Things of that nature. We also, each month, provide a pretty thorough rundown of payments developments around the world, from the biggest front page news to plenty of little items that may have been overlooked even by the most thorough observer.

Jordan Taylor 00:02:38 And there are many of them out there, obviously. and on top of that, we cover the latest reports from central banks and others that we think are important that move the dial a little bit. Some of the more notable speeches, things of that nature and even personnel changes. So if you know central bank of pick your country has a new payments director or a new head of fintech or whatever it might be, or a new governor. We document those and include those. So it’s a it’s a pretty thorough look as much as we can at, at the kind of monthly state of things from the central bank perspective in the world of payments.

Hurin Nawawi 00:03:21 That’s great context. Jordan. Thanks. So, maybe can you tell us a little bit about the story behind the launch of CBN back in 2018? Like, what was the reason for launching the central bank payments news.

Jordan Taylor 00:03:39 Yeah, when we got started way back in 2018, the idea for it was kind of as an outgrowth of our central Bank payments conference, which at the time was just about brand new.

Jordan Taylor 00:03:53 And this March is celebrating its 10th edition in Istanbul. but when we got started, we just thought it was a way of kind of continuing the conversation. Our organization was new to payments. We were moving in that direction. we’d previously been traditionally just a cash currency, physical currency focused organization. So it was a way for us to kind of just dive right into that world. And we thought there was was a need for it didn’t seem to be anything quite like what we do at the time. And frankly, there are lots of things that that do similar things now. But I think we still do something that is very unique in the way that we go about it. So I’m proud of the work that we do, and I’m proud of the some of the organizations and individuals that we’ve been able to feature in our pages. That’s really one of the things that that I like to hang my hat on and that I’m most proud of.

Hurin Nawawi 00:04:54 That’s amazing, actually. And I think it’s great to hear, you know, how central bank payments news has carved out its own space.

Hurin Nawawi 00:05:05 So interesting. Are there any recent articles or pieces that have really stood out to you?

Jordan Taylor 00:05:11 Well, it’s certainly difficult to remember them all in great detail. I think since we began in September of 2018 was the first issue we’ve had, I think over 150 contributors in that time, some repeats, but so there’s been quite a few, but there are some that that do stand out and they stand out for a variety of reasons. As a matter of fact, our final issue of 2025, our cover story, our feature article for that month was written. It was co-authored by the Palestine Monetary Authority along with the Palestinian Payment Services company. A pair of individuals from each organization prepared an article on a new digital identity platform that the Palestine Monetary Authority launched recently. ID plus its called, and their article was a real reminder that one financial sector innovation and these developments are really happening everywhere. They are not the, you know, nobody has a monopoly on these sorts of things. Sure. Jurisdictions are at different places.

Jordan Taylor 00:06:35 but but really, every every institution and every individual at these institutions more or less is really trying to accomplish the same things. On top of that, the fact that these individuals were willing to take time to prepare this article for us. Given everything that they’ve no doubt been subjected to over the last two years or more. so it was incredibly humbling, frankly, to be able to feature the, the Palestine Monetary Authority and their work with digital identity. It really was. I mean, we’ve been trying, I think, for a long time to get something from them. And that’s again, that’s something that we are really cognizant of is is trying as much as we can to provide a platform for any institution, any central bank and others. But whether it’s the Federal Reserve or the Palestine Monetary Authority or the central Bank of Trinidad and Tobago. You name it, we’ve either included it or desperately tried to include it. So we we really do try to give everybody a platform and we think that’s important.

Hurin Nawawi 00:08:03 I have to agree that that’s a good one.

Hurin Nawawi 00:08:06 you know, it’s great to see central bank payments news giving a platform to contributions like that. So on to our next question. how would you say central bank payments news has changed since, those early days, you know, compared to when you first started. What’s different?

Jordan Taylor 00:08:28 That’s an interesting one. I would say that it is less about how we’ve changed or what’s different with us. I mean, I’m sure there are some things that we hopefully do better than when we started, but it’s it’s really just the way that the entire landscape has, has continued to move and everybody is doing something, you know. In preparation for our chat, I looked at our very first issue. You know, not something that that I do very often. You know, I don’t want to equate myself with an author or an actor or anything like that, but the the impulse to go back and look at your old work is, is not real strong. But it was really quite instructive because the cover story of our first article, you know, seven and a half years ago or so was the Bank of Ghana and the Bank of Ghana, for those who pay attention to payments, are well aware is they’ve done incredible work over the last five, ten years.

Jordan Taylor 00:09:39 They’ve they’ve really done outstanding things and they have accelerated all kinds of developments, on a number of fronts, too. And I think that, as you know, because our organization, Currency Research was just in Ghana in November to help the Bank of Ghana celebrate the 60th anniversary of their national currency, the CD. And so, just in on the heels of that event where the whole history of Ghana’s monetary evolution and currency evolution was on full display to to see that in our in our pages just within a couple of years. How much things have progressed for them is really a credit to to them of course, first and foremost, but also really just indicative of the way that, these changes are, are really uniform and universal rather than across the board. And they are impacting just about every jurisdiction. And obviously something else that was quite different than was discussion and coverage of things like central bank, digital currency. You know, it barely, barely mentioned or garnered a mention in our earliest issues. I mean, it did, but not to the point that it that it started to a few years later.

Jordan Taylor 00:11:12 I mean, it was so rare at the time that if a governor or someone at a central bank mentioned the idea or the prospect of a CBDC, we discussed it, we talked about it and said, hey, they’re talking about it. This is a big deal. Now, you know, everybody has has been talking about it ad nauseam for the better part of a decade, or at least a half a decade or more. So it’s it’s really interesting to see how the priorities have have shifted a little bit. What? What is or is not emphasized? you know, a big one for for us and for the industry at large was, was Libra in 2019. I think, which Libra actually Facebook at the time met a made the announcement during our central bank payments conference. And anybody who was there will tell you, you know, it’s kind of one of those moments where they they’ll remember where they were when Libra was announced. And that was obviously a pivotal moment that helped steer the direction of the industry.

Jordan Taylor 00:12:25 their focus, priorities, things of that nature. And we’re I think we’re seeing we’re still seeing the, the effects of that now. So it’s been really interesting to watch, you know.

Hurin Nawawi 00:12:38 the example I love the example with the Bank of Ghana that you mentioned. I think it really shows how much the landscape has shifted and how universal these changes have become. So, you know, looking ahead a bit. who else might we be hearing from in, in CPN over the coming months?

Jordan Taylor 00:12:59 Oh, we’ve got quite a few things, actually, that I’m looking forward to in the coming months. this month, for instance, we’re going to hear from the European Banking Authority on crypto asset regulation. We’ve got something taking a look at developments in Pakistan. And then next month, actually, we are sitting down for an interview with the central Bank of West African States, the BCA for short. And that’s one that I’m really excited about and really thrilled that we’ve been able to, get that together. Been been after them, so to speak, for a number of years.

Jordan Taylor 00:13:39 And, apparently I didn’t wear out my welcome with them quite yet as they indulged the request for an interview. So that was granted and excited to hear about their new instant payment system, which is a few months old now. And obviously that’s something that is a hot topic these days in in that part of the world. Lots of developments. You know, interoperable instant payment systems are are really the thing. And interoperability really is, is one of those things that is kind of at the center of the conversation these days, along with a few other things. But we are always, always looking for new contributors, fresh perspectives. So anybody out there listening, if you have something you’d like to write about and update anything at all, be in touch with us. We’d love to have a conversation and include you in a coming issue.

Hurin Nawawi 00:14:40 That’s a great line up coming up. So, for anyone listening who might want to contribute or just stay up to date, how can they get access to central bank payments? News.

Jordan Taylor 00:14:55 Well, we are subscription based. We do need to keep the lights on. but we have multiple models, and we’ve actually, kind of been been tinkering with those over the, the break. And fairly soon we’re going to introduce a new set of subscription options, sponsorship options, things like that. but we do have a variety of ways that institutions and individuals can receive CBN each month. you know, your entire organization can receive it or just a few of you. And we actually one of the things that we are really proud of as well is with the support of our sponsor organizations, we are able to distribute at no cost to the recipient. complimentary subscriptions to over 40 central banks around the world. so, you know, we and we’ve we’ve received a lot of positive feedback from, from those recipients. So, you know, we think that it’s important in, in our very limited way that we are able. We think it’s important to try and, you know, share the information that is, is in our pages and really just kind of try and connect as much as we can the industry of to to each other.

Jordan Taylor 00:16:23 So we we are happy that we’re able to do that. And, if there are any organizations out there that that are interested, we encourage you to reach out. We’d love to, to be able to send you what we produce each month.

Hurin Nawawi 00:16:37 So, and as Jordan’s mentioned, if anyone listening wants to contribute or learn more, please do get in touch. So, Jordan, before we wrap things up, any final thoughts you might want to leave our listeners with?

Jordan Taylor 00:16:55 Well, in closing, I would just like to say that, credit for central bank payments news really rests with a few individuals that I’d like to point out very briefly. one is our former colleague, Gonzalo Santamaria, who retired at the end of last year. Gonzalo was really instrumental in helping to build central bank payments news, along with the central Bank Payments Conference. as as much, if not more than anybody at Currency research. And so I think a big tip of the hat to him for all that he did, worked tirelessly to, to get this thing off the ground and to sustain it.

Jordan Taylor 00:17:40 So. Gardens, wherever you are. Thank you, amigo, for for all your work. and then, of course, our editor in chief, Brianna Urban, has held this thing together for the last, ever since the beginning. So she deserves a good deal of credit for continuing to make sure that this gets out and on time every month. So those two especially deserve a great deal of praise. But beyond that, I think I’m just looking forward to getting together with the payments community in Istanbul in March. I’m looking forward to, to covering that, see what folks have to say, sitting down, maybe, maybe doing another episode on the pit exchange with with somebody at the conference. Who knows if you’ll if you’ll have me back.

Hurin Nawawi 00:18:29 That’s really lovely, Jordan. And very well said. It’s great to hear that recognition for Gonzalo and Brianna and yeah, of course, we’re definitely looking forward to catching up with the payments community in Istanbul as well. thank you again.

Jordan Taylor 00:18:47 This has been wonderful.

Jordan Taylor 00:18:48 And, I’ve enjoyed sitting down with you, having a little chat and, talking a little bit about what we do at central Bank payments news and, yeah, really grateful that, you had me on. So thanks very much.

Hurin Nawawi 00:19:00 And to everyone listening, thank you so much for tuning in. If you enjoyed this conversation, please be sure to subscribe, follow, and share this episode with everyone you know. So I guess we’ll see you on the next episode.