The study was prepared as a result of professional collaboration with the Faculty of Business and Economics at the University of Pécs.
AFR 2.0 as a Payment Ecosystem
The central question of the study is under what conditions an interbank instant payment infrastructure can become a widely used, end-user-facing payment solution. The analysis highlights that real-time clearing and settlement alone are not sufficient for mass market adoption. This also requires a solution layer that provides convenience, low cost, fast execution, reliability, security and broad availability at the same time.
From this perspective, the Hungarian AFR 2.0 system can be interpreted not only as an infrastructure development, but also as an ecosystem-building process. Standardised data entry, payment requests, and QR-, NFC- and deep link-based payment initiation are solution directions that can contribute to reducing interoperability and adoption barriers.
Technology, Standardisation and Market Cooperation
The publication places particular emphasis on the fact that the successful operation of a modern digital payment solution does not depend solely on technological development. Regulatory standardisation, cooperation between market participants, a service model built on banking channels and the conscious development of the end-user experience are equally important.
The research applies a qualitative, multi-method approach and analyses the AFR 2.0 regulatory and infrastructure development programme, as well as the experiences of the Capsys Smart Payment Solution research and development project, as an embedded case study.
Professional Contribution to Digital Payment Innovation
For Capsys, contributing its professional experience and development expertise to the advancement of domestic payment innovation is of key importance. The AFR 2.0 system and the payment solutions built on it represent an area where infrastructure, standardisation, technological implementation and market adoption are closely interconnected.
The study prepared jointly with PTE KTK provides a professional framework for analysing this complex operation and contributes to understanding instant payment not only as an interbank infrastructure, but also as a widely usable digital payment ecosystem.
Contributors included Róbert Kiszely, Szabolcs Varga, Zoltán Tari and Ágnes Koós on behalf of Capsys, and Zoltán Gál on behalf of PTE KTK.
The full study is available here: https://journals.lib.pte.hu/index.php/workingpapers/article/view/9258/8508
