Programmable CBDCs, Digital Identity, ISO 20022, and AI: Reconfiguring Power in Payment Infrastructures

Purpose: This study interrogates the convergence of programmable central-bank digital currencies (CBDCs), national digital-identity regimes, ISO 20022 data standards, and AI-driven regtech to determine how their fusion redistributes gatekeeping authority within modern payment infrastructures. Design/methodology: Through comparative content analysis of policy papers, pilot reports, and regulatory texts from the European Union, United Kingdom, China, Nigeria, and cross-border projects such as BIS mBridge, the article couples empirical evidence with three theoretical lenses—weaponised interdependence, Foucault’s governmentality, and Mann’s infrastructural power. Findings: Results reveal that these intertwined technologies promise efficiency and inclusion yet simultaneously centralise control in the “rails” of the financial system, enabling transaction-level programmability and finely grained sanctions. Liberal jurisdictions seek to diffuse power through privacy thresholds and shared governance, whereas more authoritarian models exploit identity binding and real-time surveillance to extend state reach. Limited adoption in Nigeria illustrates that technical capability alone cannot confer infrastructural authority without public trust. Originality/value: Integrating economic sociology with Christian ethical analysis, the article devises a normative test drawn from scriptural principles—honest scales (Prov 11:1), Jubilee resets (Lev 25), and freedom of conscience (Rev 13:17)—to evaluate whether emerging architectures entrench coercive leverage or foster economic justice. Practical implications: Policymakers should codify privacy by design, guarantee offline or bearer-style options for small payments, legislate transparent limits on programmability, and promote multipolar governance to avert new monopolies over “who may buy and sell.” Social implications: Embedding mercy, accountability, and pluralism at the protocol layer is essential if digital money is to enhance, rather than erode, human dignity and freedom.