News and insights

When you ask Associate Manager Jannika Gustafsson what makes her work exciting, she doesn’t hesitate. It’s the change and variety within Payments, a field that is constantly evolving and connected to every part of the financial ecosystem. With experience across commercial, regulatory, and tech-driven initiatives, Jannika’s leadership brings structure, clarity, and momentum to banks undergoing transformation.

In large-scale migrations and transformation projects, even short disruptions can lead to financial loss, reputational damage, and regulatory consequences for banks. Therefore, the Go-live moment – when the new system replaces the old one – represents a business-critical event. Download our whitepaper to gain practical guidance on planning and executing a controlled go-live for largescale migration and transformation programs.

Over the past decade, Nordic banks have rapidly expanded their digital ecosystems. Instant payments, cloud platforms, and open banking have enabled new services but also introduced new exposure. In the middle of this shift is Joakim Nilsson, Senior Consultant and Partner at 421, who helps banks strengthen their resilience against cyber threats and operational disruptions.

The financial sector is often labeled conservative, but Payments proves otherwise. With two decades of experience, our Senior Consultant, Anna Holmgren, shares how the demand for instant payments is reshaping the way money moves and how new standards, such as ISO 20022, can spark innovation and foster collaboration between new and established players in the Payments market.

Major migration programs linked to Bankgirot’s transformation are reshaping Sweden’s entire payments landscape. They are projects that will transform payments, customer experiences, and banking operations.

With over two decades of experience in the financial industry, Daniel Amsenius has become the link between banks’ IT and business. At 421, he helps our clients navigate complex transformation projects, bringing together both different departments and wills.

The Swedish Payments industry is undergoing its biggest transformation in over fifty years. With the introduction of ISO 20022, new standards are being set for instant payments, high-value transactions, and Bankgirot’s infrastructure. Banks are forced to adapt, and a vital guide through this change is Gustav Dahlström, Manager at 421, who has played a key role in several of Sweden’s largest migration projects.

As part of a major transformation in Sweden’s financial infrastructure, 421 supported a leading Swedish bank through the migration of RIX RTGS to ISO20022— the real-time gross settlement system managed by the Riksbank. We sat down with a team member from 421 to reflect on the experience and share key takeaways from this landmark project.

Last week, five of our consultants visited the annual event NextGen Nordics in Stockholm, hosted by FinExtra. The event brings together Nordic stakeholders within the Payments landscape – from banks and authorities to PSPs and FinTech companies. Some of the included themes were VoP/CoP, DORA, Open Finance, and regulation vs. innovation. In this article, we want to highlight our key takeaways from the events and what we believe will be important moving forward.