The Bank for International Settlements, which provides central banking services for central banks, announced Thursday that it will establish an innovation centre in Canada’s financial capital. With support from the Bank of Canada, the office will help countries in the Americas keep pace with technological change in banking and payments. (The Logic) 

Talking point: The BIS has already set up similar research offices in Europe and Asia. The idea is to develop off-the-shelf technology that countries could use to upgrade—or even overhaul—the digital systems that support financial services. The Toronto team will focus on financial infrastructure, regulatory technology and open banking. Latin America will receive much of the hub’s attention, given its relative position on the development spectrum. But as those who have been waiting on Canada to overhaul its real-time payments infrastructure can attest, the BIS’s newest innovation hub won’t have far to look for examples of why policymakers shouldn’t take technological upgrades for granted.