FIS has launched Lyriq, a digital money platform for regulated financial institutions.
Lyriq allows banks to issue, manage and settle digital money, including tokenised deposits and digital currencies, while keeping deposits on their own balance sheets. It is designed to work with existing core banking systems and includes compliance, identity verification and audit controls.
The launch comes as banks and other financial institutions seek ways to participate in digital currency projects without relying on systems originally built for crypto markets. FIS is positioning Lyriq as an infrastructure that lets banks retain direct control over issuance, settlement and governance.
The system supports continuous settlement and is designed so transactions either complete in full or do not post at all. That approach is intended to reduce the operational issues and reconciliation problems that can arise in older payment and settlement systems.
Lyriq is now entering limited availability. FIS said the platform is production-ready and has been tested through seven proofs of concept with financial institutions across different markets.
FIS also said it has supported several central bank digital currency programmes globally, with one moving into pre-production. Lyriq’s early focus includes domestic tokenised deposits, as well as services for international financial institutions linked to digital euro work and central bank digital currency integrations in Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia-Pacific.
The platform includes ISO 20022 support, reflecting the need to connect digital money systems with established financial messaging standards. That could help banks adopt the technology without replacing existing infrastructure across payments and core banking systems.
Testing record
FIS said the seven proofs of concept make Lyriq one of the most extensively tested digital currency platforms built for banks. It has not disclosed the names of the financial institutions involved.
Lyriq forms part of FIS’s broader digital assets push. Rather than serving a single use case, the company describes it as a base layer that other financial services and applications can connect to over time.
That strategy also includes other products and partnerships. FIS said its partnership with Circle added stablecoin payments to its Money Movement Hub for round-the-clock cross-border settlement. At the same time, its Digital Liquidity Gateway has been used to expand access to capital markets through loan tokenisation for securitisation.
FIS argues that banks want to engage with different forms of digital money without moving deposits off their own books. Keeping tokenised deposits on the issuing bank’s balance sheet is central to the model because it preserves control of customer funds and the bank’s lending base.
The design also reflects a wider banking debate over how tokenised money should be structured. Some institutions have explored stablecoins or deposit tokens to modernise payments and settlement, but many remain cautious about compliance, governance and operational control.
“FIS is bringing the future of digital money into the present. Lyriq is production-ready infrastructure that, combined with our deep expertise integrating bank technology, puts banks in control of money in motion. Lyriq is a platform proven with financial institutions – one that meets banks and regulators where they are,” Jim Johnson, Co-president of Banking Solutions at FIS, said.
Alberto Corvo, Managing Director & Partner at Alvarez & Marsal, also commented on the need for controls in digital money systems. “Digital currencies will only scale if trust scales with them. Banks need infrastructure with strong governance, identity controls, auditability, and resilience built in from the start, so money can move at digital speed without compromising safety. That’s what makes bank-grade platforms essential to this next chapter,” he said.
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