Operational Resilience in Digital Payments: Experiences and Issues

IMF Working Papers, December 10, 2021

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Major operational incidents in payment systems suggest the need to improve their resiliency.
As payment infrastructures become more digitalized, integrated, and interdependent, they require an even higher degree of resilience.
Risks that could trigger major disruptions have become more acute given the rise in power outages, cyber incidents, and natural disasters.
International experiences suggest the need to strengthen reliability objectives, redundancies, assessment of critical service providers, endpoint security, and alternative arrangements.

Payment infrastructures are becoming more digitalized, integrated, and interdependent, increasing systemic vulnerability.
Rise in power outages, cyber incidents, and natural disasters has made risks that could trigger major disruptions more acute.
Major operational incidents in payment systems demonstrate existing resiliency gaps.
Critical areas identified for strengthening include:
- reliability objectives
- redundancies
- assessment of critical service providers
- endpoint security
- alternative arrangements

Strengthen reliability objectives for payment systems to reflect higher digitalization and interdependence.
Increase redundancies in system design and operations to mitigate single points of failure.
Conduct rigorous assessment of critical service providers to ensure continuity and resilience.
Enhance endpoint security measures to reduce vulnerability from peripheral components.
Develop and maintain alternative arrangements to preserve payment system operations during major disruptions.