Central banks around the world are grappling with the question of whether a payments system owned and operated nationally is preferable to using large-scale international payments systems. OMFIF is producing a report based on in-depth interviews with a variety of central banks to assess the relative strengths of national and international payments systems, based on a number of criteria, including functionality, technical resilience, protection from fraud and cyberattack, ease of cross-border payments and cost-effectiveness.

The findings of the report will be presented at a launch, followed by a discussion with expert panellists and a short Q&A.

Abdulaziz O. AlAfaleg, Managing Director, Saudi Payments

Abdulaziz Al Afaleg is managing director of Saudi Payments. He joined Saudi Payments in 2011 as service transition manager. He was held various roles within Saudi Payments, including as operations director and vice-president of operations and shared services. Previously, he held roles at Saudi Hollandi Bank and the Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority, now the Saudi Central Bank.

Tim Masela, Head, National Payment System Department, South Africa Reserve Bank

Tim Masela is head of the national payment system department of the South African Reserve Bank. He joined the South African Reserve Bank in 1994. He represents the SARB on the committee on payment and market infrastructure of the Bank for International Settlements.

Dirk Schrade, Deputy Head of the Payments and Settlement Systems, Deutsche Bundesbank

Dirk Schrade is deputy head of the payments and settlement systems department at the central office of the Deutsche Bundesbank. In 2000, he joined the payment systems policy division at the central office of the Bundesbank in Frankfurt. He represents the Bundesbank in the payment and settlement systems committee of the European System of Central Banks and has chaired the working group on innovations in retail payments of the Committee on Payment and Settlement Systems.

Lewis McLellan, Editor, Digital Monetary Institute, OMFIF

Lewis McLellan is editor of the Digital Monetary Institute and consultant editor of the Sovereign Debt Institute at OMFIF. Before joining OMFIF, he spent six years at GlobalCapital, a capital markets newspaper and part of Euromoney Institutional Investor. There, he covered debt capital markets, breaking news and developing themes in public sector bond markets, emerging markets, ESG and digitalisation. He formed relationships with senior bankers and key borrowers.