## Operational Resilience in Digital Payments: Experiences and Issues

_IMF Working Papers, December 10, 2021_

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## Bibliographic details
- Authors: Tanai Khiaonarong, Harry Leinonen, Ryan Rizaldy
- Published: December 10, 2021
- Series: IMF Working Papers
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.5089/9781616355913.001

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### Summary
- 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.

### Major findings and risk drivers
- 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

### Policy implications and recommended actions
- 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.

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## Content in this bundle

- **Working Paper**
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_Source: https://www.imf.org/en/publications/wp/issues/2021/12/10/operational-resilience-in-digital-payments-experiences-and-issues-510393_