From the outside, payments is a very standardised business – it has to be to work – and looks to be in rude health as volumes continue to grow. Yet the last ten years have seen significantly more change than the previous twenty. This has been on many fronts, from innovative fintechs changing customer expectations, in the form of mandated change like the FedWire migration, to the rapidly changing technology landscape. And the next ten years look to hold even greater change, not least the myriad of new payment rails coming over the horizon. Change can be overwhelming, with some banks we interviewed describing themselves as drowning in change. Yet there are banks who use change to do things differently or better. Indeed, some drive that change themselves. Fifteen years of the Celent Model Bank clearly shows that this attitude isn’t just the preserve of the very largest banks. While those banks with deep pockets are doing interesting things, so are other much smaller banks.
In the summer of 2025, Celent interviewed the majority of the top 20 US & Canadian banks to uncover more examples. Indeed, we also looked at the why as much as the what - why did they do what they did? The interviews discussed commercial payments in the broadest sense – from payment rails, to products built upon them, to operational enhancements that improve STP.
The results are interesting and clear.
No one bank does everything “best”, and even what is best (and for whom) is a question to be answered. Instead, at every point of the value chain, a bank does something that is differentiating for them. The results highlighted here then are that – highlights. There were many more we couldn’t include which highlights that lots of banks are doing something. Our thanks then for those banks who allowed us a peek inside, and to share a little of their secret sauce. This is a point that should be very clear through out the report. The leading banks are competing using payment capabilities, whereas many banks see payments as something they do. Any bank could implement almost any of these innovations because a peer is already doing it.
With more – and continually more – changes on the horizon, banks shouldn’t fear drowning in change but see there is an opportunity to use the change as a catalyst. Conversely, there are clear dangers for banks who don’t.
The shift to instant payment schemes is a major milestone, but it is only the beginning of a new era of opportunities to be seized.
