Central banks derive their authority to regulate and monitor national payment infrastructures from explicit statutory mandates established by national legislatures. This regulatory function is known as Payment System Oversight.

Oversight frameworks move beyond basic consumer protection rules to safeguard the stability of the entire financial system. Regulators establish clear boundaries to ensure that payment processors, clearinghouses, and card networks maintain the financial reserves and operational redundancies needed to process transactions safely.

[Statutory Oversight Mandate]
  |- Micro-Level Checks -> Audits individual payment processors and licensing compliance
  |- Systemic Safety ----> Monitors core infrastructure resilience to protect c