Waller Sees Emerging Tech as Key to Payments Innovation

Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller recently spoke at Sibos 2025 in Frankfurt, emphasizing the potential of emerging technologies to improve payments innovation. He highlighted the benefits of artificial intelligence (AI), distributed ledger technology (DLT), tokenization, smart contracts, and stablecoins.

Waller argued that AI can automate compliance processes, reducing bottlenecks in international transfers. He specifically mentioned 'agentic AI,' which refers to systems capable of autonomous task execution, handling tasks like sanctions screening and regulatory checks without human intervention.

The Fed governor also praised the potential of DLT and tokenization to make payment rails faster and more transparent. Smart contracts could eliminate manual reconciliation work that slows down settlement between institutions.

Waller's speech focused on how emerging technologies can solve longstanding problems in cross-border payments, and he explicitly mentioned stablecoins as part of this technological toolkit.