Crypto remains alluring, but use cases and practicalities still need to be worked out given the widespread availability of alternatives. That´s one of the key takeaways from a new Forbes magazine interview with Vice President Andy Schmidt, who leads CGI’s global banking practice.
Andy noted that he has yet to see a reason to move from fiat currencies to crypto. While crypto payments can carry remittance information, ISO 20022 handles that job, and financial service providers are currently in the process of migrating to ISO. “If the parties used crypto, the payee would need to be able to unpack the payment message to access the remittance data, and I’m not aware of ERP vendors going that route yet, because the client demand isn’t there,” said Andy.
In general, crypto remains theoretical because it’s a niche payment method and has to compete with existing payment rails, he shared. It has yet to become a better option than current payment methods, so there’s no incentive for change.
“Managing crypto and deciding to use it as a payment type creates an added layer of overhead,” Andy explained. “You need a compelling reason to change for the average person, much less the average corporation, because every layer of abstraction creates friction that gets paid for in either time or money.”
For more insights from Andy on the value of crypto, read his Forbes magazine interview.
