News and insights

The rapid digitalization of payments has revolutionized money transfers, offering speed, convenience, and accessibility. However, as traditional transactions shift closer toward real-time capabilities, fraudsters are adapting just as quickly—exploiting new vulnerabilities to sustain illegal activities. Payment fraud has evolved into a critical threat, not just for consumers, but for the stability of the financial ecosystem. In Sweden alone, reports from the Financial Supervisory Authority (Finansinspektionen) indicated that payment fraud nearly tripled between mid-2020 and mid-2023, emphasizing the importance of strong fraud prevention. This whitepaper explores the evolving nature of fraud in the modern payment landscape, its broader impact, and the necessary adaptations within the industry to mitigate these risks.

We sat down with our Managing Partner Richard Lindblom and Partner Niclas Lindblom to discuss the key developments shaping the payments industry in 2025. Here’s what we’ve gathered.

The Swedish central bank, Sveriges Riksbank, opened their RIX INST system in November 2024 to support additional instant payments beyond Swish. In short, RIX INST (Real-time Interbank Settlement) is a modernization of Sweden’s payment system which enables real-time transfers between financial institutions utilizing the ISO 20022 messaging standard. All participating banks have been working hard on this project for years, a few of them with help from 421. We sat down with Niclas Lindblom, Senior Manager at 421 and RIX INST expert, to explore several potential product ideas and business cases that could emerge from this groundbreaking technology.

Permission Dashboards is set to give banking customers more control over their financial data and which third-party providers have access to it. This article provides an overview of Permission Dashboards, and insights from an industry expert.

The introduction of PSD3, PSR, and FIDA marks a new era for the European Payments market. The new payment service package aims to strengthen consumer protection, foster innovation, and improve the competitiveness of banking services. This white paper explores the main features, what it means for the financial sector, and the necessary steps for a successful transition and compliance

In an increasingly interconnected world, we depend on digital systems operating 24/7, which aligns with customer expectations on the market as well. Payments are made with a tap of a card or phone, while merchants rely on card terminals and internet connections to process transactions. But what happens when the system fails? Imagine a scenario where power outages or cyberattacks disrupt electricity grids and sever internet connections. Society is suddenly “off-grid,” and the conveniences of digital payments vanish. How do we ensure stability in such crises?

The Nordic banking sector has faced significant challenges in modernizing its payment infrastructure in recent years, most notably with the terminated P27 project. Now, Bankgirot has initiated a national-level transformation of the Swedish payment infrastructure. In this article, Mikael Hjorth, Partner at 421, shares his insights from P27 and how he guides a Swedish bank in their transformation journey.

Earlier this week, Niclas Lindblom and Cecilia Guthreus participated at the EBAday in Lisbon, Portugal. It is an annual summit for bankers and stakeholders within payments and transactions, as well as representatives from the regulators. In this short interview, Niclas and Cecilia share their insights from the two-day conference.