The recent Sibos 2025 conference in Frankfurt, Germany, brought together the world’s leading minds in banking, payments, and financial technology. With over 12,500 delegates, this year’s event was the largest in Sibos history, reflecting the industry’s rapid growth and the increasing importance of global collaboration.
The conference was a showcase for the latest innovations in cross-border payments, real-time processing, and the adoption of new technologies such as AI, digital ledger Technology (DLT), and tokenisation, while promoting important Swift initiatives like CBPR+ and more.
Industry leaders are grappling with the challenges and opportunities presented by regulatory changes, especially the ISO 20022 migration, and the ever-present fraud threat. The mood at Sibos was one of cautious optimism, with a strong focus on collaboration, structured data, and the need for continued innovation to meet G20 objectives for 2027.
To capture the essence of Sibos 2025, we spoke with attendee Simon Pilgrim, Regional Sales Director at Bottomline, for a candid Q&A. Pilgrim shares insights on major themes emerging from the show, technological advancements, and the future of B2B payments.
Sibos 2025 Takeaways
Q: Simon, what stood out to you most at Sibos this year? What are the major takeaways?
Simon Pilgrim: What came across most was the level of experimentation and innovation happening in the industry. The payments sector is thriving, with a real sense of pushing the boundaries of technology. At Sibos, there were wide-ranging discussions on AI, DLT, tokenisation, and more, especially in the context of cross-border payments. The industry is growing fast and adopting new technologies, even if not all of them will come to fruition. Sibos is a great time to see what everyone is talking about and where the industry is heading. Notably, Swift launched its own DLT ledger at the show, involving 30 banks. It’s a real statement of intent as Swift moves toward distributed finance and aligns with G20 priorities. The focus on “real-time everything,” as highlighted by Deutsche Bank’s CEO, was also a major theme, but achieving that will require collaboration across all stakeholders.
Q: What were you hearing about the ISO 20022 deadline and rollout? Are financial institutions ready, and what are the expectations?
Simon Pilgrim: The ISO 20022 migration has been a topic for over a decade, and now the November deadline is just weeks away. For many financial institutions, this represents years of work to ensure compliance. But as Swift said, compliance is not the finish line; it’s the beginning of opportunity. There’s a call for banks and FIs to be more ambitious with ISO 20022 data. Right now, we’re in a hybrid era with both structured and unstructured data, but the goal is to move to fully structured data next year. That will bring new opportunities for interoperability, not just in payments but also in ERPs and back-office systems. About 90% of banks and FIs expect to be ready for November 2025, which aligns with what we see in our customer base. There’s a sense of accomplishment, but also recognition that the real transformation is just beginning.
Q: Describe the mood around fraud and cybersecurity at Sibos 2025.
Simon Pilgrim: It wasn’t so much optimism or pessimism, but a recognition that moving to a real-time world can also mean real-time fraud. Fraud remains a hot topic, weighing heavily on banks and the wider economy. There’s positivity around initiatives like pre-validation and Confirmation of Payee, which have significantly reduced fraud cases in the UK. In Europe, similar initiatives such as VOP are coming online. AI is seen as a valuable tool for sanction screening and transaction monitoring, though its effectiveness depends on how it’s used. Collaboration is key. Security needs a layered approach, and the industry is sharing more data on fraud events. Structured data from ISO 20022 will also help combat fraud by improving transaction monitoring and sanction screening.
Q: There was a lot of interest in cross-border instant payments. Share some specifics.
Simon Pilgrim: Cross-border instant payments remain a major topic, aligning with the G20 priorities for 2027 on reduced costs, increased speed, improved access, and enhanced transparency. Currently, about 75% of cross-border payments are received by the beneficiary bank within 10 minutes, but most of the delay happens in the last mile due to local compliance checks. There’s a lot of discussion about how to improve this, including using structured data and pre-validation tools. The goal is to do more up front so that payments can be settled faster when received by the beneficiary bank. Swift’s DLT ledger and the move toward tokenisation and stablecoins also point to a future of real-time cross-border payments.
Q: What technologies were most talked about at Sibos, and what went well for Bottomline?
Simon Pilgrim: AI was a significant topic, and the use of AI agents. Tokenisation, central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), and DLT were also heavily discussed. The German central bank emphasised the importance of the digital Euro, though regulation is still catching up. Swift’s strategy is two-pronged: to rejuvenate payments and focus on innovation, always through the lens of the G20 objectives. For Bottomline, we had high engagement across customers, prospects, and partners, with a strong international team and a record number of on-site meetings. The event was a huge success for us and the industry as a whole.