More liquid than most derivative markets, foreign exchange products still suffered in the turbulence of late 2008. But hedging exchange rate risk has never looked more important, creating growth opportunities for banks that can stay in the game. Writer Philip Alexander.

The European payments landscape is undergoing a period of dramatic transformation as regulatory, infrastructural and commercial pressures force Europe’s payment providers to invest colossal amounts of human and financial resources in new technological and compliance projects.Faced with SEPA, the PSD and UK Faster Payments, the transaction banking business has rarely been busier or more inflamed by competitive pressure.

The major payment card players were out in force at the Cartes annual trade show, showing off their latest password generators for conducting online transactions, most thin enough to fit in a wallet. Writer Wendy Atkins.

Having enjoyed a major boom in volumes over the past five years, the FX market needs to address its processing operations and cost model. Tony White, managing director at Wall Street Systems, discusses how these problems can be combatted. Writer Michelle Price.

Lázaro Campos, Swift’s CEO of 18 months, discusses the institution’s critics and competitors, and why Swift will always upset someone.

The European commissioner for the internal market has been at the forefront of the Sepa initiative since taking up office in 2004. Here, he answers the market’s criticisms of the project and discusses how it has been handled at European level.

Political intrigue and a lack of leadership might yet kill the European Commission’s vision of a Single Euro Payments Area. Writer Michelle Price.

The Single Euro Payments Area, MiFID, the Target 2 Securities initiative and the Thomson-Reuters megamerger are among the hot topics at this year’s SIBOS.

The UK Faster Payments Service heralds a new epoch for payments. Although there are obvious benefits to individuals in terms of convenience and certainty of payment, the potential benefits to business and the economy are even greater. Martin Kearsley, director of strategy at VocaLink, explains how the infrastructure was designed and its potential benefits to consumers and businesses alike.

With FX volumes surging to unprecedented levels, Frances Maguire finds out if avoiding bottlenecks is just a case of scaling up operations or if more dramatic industry-wide change is needed.