Central banks map their role in a payments system shared with stablecoins

The Committee on Payments and Market Infrastructures (CPMI), hosted by the Bank for International Settlements, published an analysis on Oct. 29 setting out four central bank roles in increasingly diverse payments: issuer, operator, overseer and catalyst. It considers stablecoins, tokenized deposits and programmable platforms alongside other payment innovations.

In its official announcement and online publication summary, CPMI describes central bank money as the foundation for trusted settlement, alongside private payment services that support innovation, competition and user choice. The publication connects digital money to practical decisions over account access, infrastructure, oversight and coordination.

The publication summary says central bank money provides the safest and most liquid settlement asset for systemically important systems. It also supports convertibility at par among different means of payment, meaning conversion at the same face value.

Private arrangements have a complementary place in that account. CPMI credits private entities with developing services for different user needs and contributing competition, efficiency and broader access. The framework therefore combines a common settlement anchor with room for different payment services and forms of private money.

CPMI examines stablecoins, tokenized deposits and programmable platforms alongside fast payment systems and non-bank payment providers. The common question is how these arrangements fit into the wider payments system.

The summary also identifies enduring forces: network effects, the relationship between concentration and fragmentation, and trust in money. New technical arrangements enter a system still shaped by those forces, making connections between participants part of the policy problem.

As an issuer, a central bank considers which entities can hold central bank accounts, which services they can use and the terms of access. The three elements are linked: eligibility determines who can use an account, while services and terms define the practical scope of that access.

As an operator, it considers modernizing existing infrastructure or developing new platforms. CPMI places resilience, innovation and implementation risks together in that decision. A potential technical improvement has to be considered alongside the challenges of introducing and operating the infrastructure.

As an overseer, it assesses whether emerging arrangements, including stablecoins and tokenized arrangements, perform functions similar to financial market infrastructures. The release also points to systemic importance, governance and operational resilience. For digital-money arrangements, that directs attention toward the functions they perform and the risks they may create across the system.

As a catalyst, it convenes stakeholders to address collective action problems, supports market solutions and encourages common practices and industry standards. This role brings coordination into the same framework as account provision, infrastructure operation and oversight.