Balancing Speed and Security: Reconciling AML, Sanctions, and Real-Time Payments
By Dr. Kimmo Soramäki
In March, FNA attended the combined Inclusive Fintech Forum (IFF) and Mojacom 30 in Kigali, Rwanda. A highlight of the event was a highly relevant panel discussion featuring FNA Founder & CEO Kimmo Soramäki, titled Reconciling AML, Sanctions, and Real-Time Payments.
The panel examined a central challenge in modern finance: the inherent tension between the rapid growth of instant payments—particularly across Africa—and traditional compliance frameworks originally designed for a batch-processing world. The shift is monumental; McKinsey data highlights that Africa’s electronic payments market is expanding by over 150% between 2020 and 2025. Globally, real-time payment volumes continue to surge, experiencing a 42.2% year-over-year growth. As the speed of transactions accelerates, the industry must fundamentally rethink how it approaches financial crime.
The Transaction Lifecycle: Friction Meets Instant Settlement
To dissect this complex issue, the panel walked through the full transaction lifecycle, examining what needs to change at every stage to secure real-time payments against the rising tide of fraud, scams, and illicit finance:
The Pre-Transaction Layer: Before a payment is even submitted to the system, banks face significant hurdles. The panel explored the friction institutions encounter when applying Know Your Customer (KYC) and transaction monitoring protocols at the speed of real-time payments. There is an urgent need for agile, pre-submission checks that do not compromise the user experience or delay split-second processing.
During the Transaction: The actual settlement window presents a unique operational bottleneck. Discussions focused on the capabilities and limitations of payment systems and switches during the brief settlement process, contrasting current realities with future expectations for intelligent, in-flight interventions.
Post-Settlement Realities: Because instant payments are irrevocable, post-settlement strategies are critical. This vulnerability has led to an explosion in Authorized Push Payment (APP) fraud, with the Global Anti-Scam Alliance estimating that consumers worldwide lost a staggering USD 442 billion to APP fraud and scams in 2025. Furthermore, industry projections indicate that APP fraud executed through real-time payments will account for 80% of all APP fraud losses by 2028. The panelists discussed the complexities of recovering funds, identifying mule account networks, restituting victims, and—crucially—sharing fraud intelligence to prevent future incidents.
Moving Beyond Silos: The Need for Ecosystem Collaboration
A recurring theme and central takeaway from the session was that individual institutions can no longer fight financial crime in isolation. Currently, financial institutions spend an estimated USD 271 billion globally each year on AML and financial crime compliance, yet siloed defenses are routinely bypassed by highly coordinated scam networks. As instant payment systems grow, the side effects grow alongside them.
Addressing these risks effectively requires the industry to move beyond isolated compliance and adopt coordinated, network-wide intelligence. The panel explored structural solutions gaining traction globally, such as anti-scam centers, cyber fusion centers, and centralized fraud operations. Furthermore, they highlighted the vital role of regulators acting as enablers to foster this collaborative environment and remove historical obstacles to information sharing.
Building Scalable, Inclusive Payment Systems
Building a scalable, inclusive instant payment system (IIPS) relies on strong industry partnerships. The transition to real-time finance must support financial inclusion while simultaneously protecting consumers and jurisdictions from exploitation.
The event in Kigali provided a valuable platform to connect with industry peers and share this vision. FNA is proud to work alongside partners like Proto, Tazama.org, and the Mojaloop Foundation to build a financial ecosystem that is not only fast and accessible but structurally secure.
As the industry looks toward the future, the mandate is clear: the financial ecosystem must unite its intelligence and infrastructure.
FNA is actively helping jurisdictions move beyond the limitations of siloed compliance. By providing the technology to map, monitor, and analyze complex payment networks in real-time, FNA empowers central banks, regulators, and financial institutions to share critical intelligence and mount a unified, collaborative defense against fraud.
To learn how FNA can help your jurisdiction or organization make this transition, learn more at fna.fi/solution/fraud-portals/ or access the comprehensive blueprint for building National Anti-Scam Utilities at nasu.fna.fi.
