About the Course

Payment systems are being transformed by instant payments, mobile money, digital wallets and cross-border innovation, while payment fraud and systemic risk grow in parallel, demanding deep technical and risk capability.

This ten-day programme covers payment instruments and infrastructure, national and regional payment systems, card and mobile payments, cross-border payments, payment risk and fraud management, and emerging payment innovations.

Participants leave with a payment risk management framework, a payment product and channel roadmap, and a payment system readiness assessment.

Target Participants

Payments and digital channel managers, Treasury and settlement operations staff, Payment risk and fraud officers, Product managers for cards, wallets and mobile money, Central bank and national payment system staff, Fintech and payment service provider staff, IT and operations staff supporting payment infrastructure, and compliance staff covering payment services regulation.

What You Will Learn

By the end of this course, participants will be able to:

• Analyse the structure and evolution of national and regional payment systems.
• Evaluate payment instruments including cards, mobile money and digital wallets.
• Assess real-time and instant payment system design and operations.
• Interpret cross-border and correspondent payment mechanisms.
• Design payment risk management and fraud controls for digital payment channels.
• Apply payment system regulatory and interoperability requirements.
• Evaluate emerging payment innovations including central bank digital currencies and stablecoins.
• Develop a payment product and channel roadmap.
• Manage payment system settlement, reconciliation and operational risk.
• Prepare an institutional payment system readiness assessment.

Course Duration

• Classroom – 10 Days
• Online – 14 Days

Course Outline

Foundations of Payment Systems

• Payment system concepts
• Key participants/roles
• Payment system evolution
• Systemic importance of payments
• Global payment trends

Payment Instruments and Infrastructure

• Cash vs electronic instruments
• Cards
• Direct debits/credit transfers
• Payment infrastructure components
• Choosing the right instrument

National and Regional Payment Systems

• Real-time gross settlement systems
• National payment switches
• Regional payment integration
• Interoperability frameworks
• Regulatory oversight

Card Payments and Card Scheme Operations

• Card issuing/acquiring
• Card scheme rules
• Authorization/clearing
• Interchange/fees
• Card fraud controls

Mobile Money and Digital Wallets

• Mobile money models
• Wallet interoperability
• Agent network operations
• USSD/app-based channels
• Financial inclusion role

Instant and Real-Time Payment Systems

• Instant payment system design
• 24/7 Availability requirements
• Liquidity management for instant payments
• Use cases/adoption
• Risk considerations

Cross-Border and Correspondent Payments

• Correspondent banking basics
• SWIFT messaging
• Cross-border payment corridors
• Remittance service providers
• Cost/speed challenges

Payment System Settlement and Reconciliation

• Settlement models
• Clearing house operations
• Reconciliation processes
• Settlement risk
• Nostro/vostro considerations

Payment Risk Management

• Payment risk categories
• Operational risk in payments
• Liquidity risk in settlement
• Counterparty risk
• Risk control frameworks

Payment Fraud and Financial Crime Controls

• Payment fraud typologies
• Real-time fraud detection
• AML in payment flows
• Sanctions screening for payments
• Building fraud controls

Payment System Regulation and Oversight

• Regulatory frameworks for payments
• Payment service provider licensing
• Consumer protection in payments
• Interoperability regulation
• Regulatory reporting

Open Banking and API-Enabled Payments

• Open banking principles
• Payment initiation services
• API security for payments
• Embedded payments
• Ecosystem partnerships

Central Bank Digital Currencies and Stablecoins

• CBDC models
• Stablecoin basics
• Implications for payment systems
• Global pilots/lessons
• Readiness considerations

Payment Product Development and Channel Strategy

• Payment product design
• Channel strategy
• Pricing payment services
• Partnership models
• Go-to-market planning

Payment System Technology and Operations

• Core payment technology
• System resilience/uptime
• Disaster recovery for payments
• Vendor/technology risk
• Technology roadmap

Building a Payment System Readiness and Risk Framework

• Readiness assessment methodology
• Integrating risk/product strategy
• Governance structure
• Roadmap development
• Continuous monitoring

Practical Outputs

• Payment risk management framework
• Payment product and channel roadmap
• Payment system readiness assessment
• Cross-border payment corridor analysis
• Payment fraud control checklist
• Settlement and reconciliation process map
• Institutional payment governance structure

Training Approach

Combines technical presentations, system demonstrations and case studies on real payment system incidents and innovations, culminating in an institutional payment system readiness and risk framework.

Organizational Benefits

• Stronger payment system risk management and fraud control
• Improved capability to launch and manage digital payment products
• Enhanced cross-border payment efficiency and cost management
• Better regulatory compliance and interoperability readiness
• Improved settlement and operational risk control
• Stronger institutional readiness for payment innovation

Certification

Participants who successfully complete this course will receive a Certificate of Course Completion from Devimpact Institute, recognizing the knowledge, practical skills and competencies developed through the programme.

Tailor-Made Course

This course can be customized and delivered as an in-house programme to address the specific policies, systems, sector context and capacity-development priorities of an organization. The course duration, modules, case studies and practical exercises may be adjusted following a training needs assessment.