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Reserve Bank of India Updates Digital Rupee FAQ (RBI)

[February 4, 2026] The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has issued updated FAQs explaining the design and objectives of India’s Digital Rupee (e₹) pilots in retail and wholesale segments. Retail e₹ is presented as legal-tender central bank digital currency equivalent to cash, distributed via banks and non-banks through mobile wallets, interoperable with existing QR infrastructure, and supporting offline and programmable features to enable cash-like use, targeted transfers, and constrained spending. Wholesale e₹ is framed as restricted-access central bank money for interbank and securities settlement, using programmability and smart contracts to reduce settlement risk and infrastructure costs in government securities, call money, and tokenized certificates of deposit. The document signals an incremental, pilot-based approach focused on testing technology, scalability, and institutional roles rather than rapid scale-up, leaving open questions about future onboarding models, governance of programmability, and long-run integration with systems like UPI. [RBI]

#Fintech #CBDC #wCBDC #India #DFC

·web.archive.org·Apr 12, 2026

Reserve Bank of India Updates Digital Rupee FAQ (RBI)

Banco Central de Bolivia to Explore Wholesale CBDC in 2026 (BCB)

[November 6, 2025] Banco Central de Bolivia (BCB) issued a press release outlining a phased roadmap to explore a wholesale central bank digital currency (CBDC) dubbed the Boliviano Digital through 2026. The plan sequences stakeholder consultations, surveys of potential participants, further technical and regulatory evaluation, and prototype testing in controlled environments to minimize operational and technological risk while building institutional capacity. For policy and market structure, the initiative positions CBDC as an infrastructure upgrade for interbank payments, cost reduction, and innovation. https://web.archive.org/web/20260119213347/https://www.bcb.gob.bo/webdocs/10_notas_prensa/CP%2054%20Ruta%20cr%C3%ADtica%20Boliviano%20Digital_OK.pdf [BCB]

#Bolivia #Fintech #CBDC #wCBDC #DFC

·bcb.gob.bo·Apr 7, 2026

Banco Central de Bolivia to Explore Wholesale CBDC in 2026 (BCB)

Is Nigeria’s eNaira Dead? (Cryptonews)

[October 22, 2025] Nigeria’s eNaira has effectively slipped into a quiet death, with official channels and infrastructure fading away even as authorities stop short of formally killing the project. The mobile apps have disappeared from major app stores, the USSD access channel no longer works, and the official social media presence has gone silent, leaving users locked out or unable to complete basic actions. And the eNaira's official website (https://www.enaira.gov.ng) returns a "404 Web Site not found" message. [Cryptonews]

#CBDC #Nigeria #DFC #Fintech

·cryptonews.com·Apr 5, 2026

Is Nigeria’s eNaira Dead? (Cryptonews)

Do We Really Need the Digital Euro: A Solution to What Problem Exactly? (IEA)

[April 30, 2025] The Instituto Espanol de Analysts (IEA) published a book that included a chapter by European Parliament rapporteur Fernando Navarette, that argues that a digital euro is a mis-specified response to Europe’s payments challenges and should be downgraded to a contingency “Plan B.” He contends that the core problems—trust in money post‑crisis, overreliance on non‑EU payment schemes, and stablecoin‑driven currency substitution—are better addressed through institutional and regulatory reforms, wholesale central bank digital currency (CBDC), and pan‑European instant‑payment solutions based on commercial bank money. Navarrete stresses that retail CBDC is inherently destabilizing for bank funding, raises unresolved privacy and governance risks, and risks crowding out private innovation, especially if coupled with legal tender and complex “waterfall” mechanics. He instead proposes a three‑pillar architecture: private‑led interoperable instant payments, a narrowly scoped offline digital euro, and wholesale CBDC—leaving a full retail CBDC only as a last‑resort backup if private efforts fail. [IEA]

#ECB #Eurozone #Fintech #DFC #CBDC

·institutodeanalistas.com·Apr 4, 2026

Do We Really Need the Digital Euro: A Solution to What Problem Exactly? (IEA)

The eNaira Journey So Far (CBN)

[In 2023] the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) published a book on the economics of digital currencies in which there was a review of how the eNaira central bank digital currency (CBDC) was designed, launched, and managed. It argues that weak demand reflects structural and institutional frictions rather than purely technological failure. The review documents a phased rollout focused on financial inclusion, payment efficiency, and monetary control, but shows that limited interoperability, burdensome onboarding, and unclear value propositions constrained uptake. It emphasizes how institutional choices around wallet tiers, distribution architecture, and bank–fintech roles reshaped market incentives, often reinforcing banks’ dominance rather than fostering broader innovation. It highlights the need to recalibrate design toward open interfaces, clearer legal and regulatory frameworks, and better alignment between central bank objectives and private‑sector business models. [CBN]

#CBDC #Nigeria #Fintech #DFC

·cbn.gov.ng·Apr 3, 2026

The eNaira Journey So Far (CBN)

Next steps and Considerations for Kazakhstan's Digital Tenge (IMF)

[June 2024 but published in January 2026] The IMF published its findings regarding the plans of the National Bank of Kazakhstan and National Bank and National Payments Corporation to launch a central bank digital currency (CBDC) by end‑2025, emphasizing alignment of pilots with clear policy objectives and realistic technical capacity. It highlighted the need for an explicit legal basis beyond “banknotes and coins,” prioritization of use cases, tailored evaluation frameworks, and careful analysis of macro‑financial risks from broader applications such as crypto‑asset linkages and government or large‑value payments, alongside stress‑testing, minimum cyber‑resilience standards, and stronger internal and cross‑authority coordination. [IMF]

#CBDC #Kazakhstan #IMF #Fintech #DFC

·imf.org·Apr 2, 2026

Next steps and Considerations for Kazakhstan's Digital Tenge (IMF)

The Eurosystem’s Comprehensive Payments Strategy (ECB)

The European Central Bank (ECB) set out the Eurosystem’s comprehensive two pronged payments strategy, defining its vision for the evolution of European payments under rapid technological change. The first prong is upgrading core infrastructures such as T2, the real time gross settlement backbone for high value and time critical payments during business days, and TIPS, the 24/7 Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) instant retail settlement layer, while developing distributed ledger technology based wholesale settlement via Pontes and Appia. The second prong is a retail digital euro, with tokenized deposits and regulated, EU governed stablecoins in a complementary role. The strategy links tokenization choices to preserving the singleness of money, monetary sovereignty, and financial stability, reduces dependence on non European schemes, and embeds strategic autonomy and cyber resilience into core infrastructures and retail acceptance layers. It also promotes deeper integration of cross border and corporate payments through instant payments, standardization, and interlinking fast payment systems. [ECB]

#ECB #Eurozone #Payments #Settlement #Regulation #PaymentSystems #CrossBorder #Fintech #FastPayments #DFC

·ecb.europa.eu·Mar 31, 2026

The Eurosystem’s Comprehensive Payments Strategy (ECB)

Tokenized Deposits, WCBDC and the Central Bank’s Liquidity Management (Norges Bank)

Norges Bank published a paper that analyzes how tokenized bank deposits and wholesale central bank digital currency (WCBDC) interact with central bank liquidity management under different reserve regimes and settlement designs. They model four configurations combining scarce versus ample reserves with settlement either in traditional reserves via the real-time gross settlement (RTGS) system or in WCBDC on a ledger, showing that liquidity frictions arise mainly when reserves are scarce and tokenized payments can alter banks’ reserve or WCBDC positions close to RTGS cut-off. This matters because late-in-the-day tokenized flows can force abrupt recourse to standing facilities, complicate overnight redistribution, and impair short-term rate control and monetary policy implementation, particularly in corridor or quota systems. Policy responses include deferred settlement for tokenized deposits settled in reserves and time windows or design tweaks for WCBDC activity, but the optimal mix of reserve regime, platform architecture, and operating rules remains unresolved. [Norges Bank]

#wCBDC #CBDC #Tokenization #DepositTokens #DFC #Fintech

·norges-bank.no·Mar 29, 2026

Tokenized Deposits, WCBDC and the Central Bank’s Liquidity Management (Norges Bank)

Potential Consequences for Norway of the Introduction of a Digital Euro (Norges Bank)

Norges Bank publishes an assessment arguing that a potential digital euro would have limited structural impact on Norway’s monetary and financial system while marginally increasing competition in niche payment segments. The paper finds that, given Norway’s macro stability, strong institutional credibility, and existing foreign-currency options, a capped, non‑interest‑bearing digital euro is unlikely to trigger material currency substitution away from NOK or meaningfully affect monetary policy transmission, liquidity management, or bank funding profiles. It emphasizes that use would concentrate in tourism-related and cross‑border transactions, where lower fees and pan‑EEA reach could modestly strengthen merchant competition and payment contingency but remain geographically and quantitatively constrained. Legally, enabling use in Norway would require EEA transposition and an ECB–Norges Bank agreement that could constrain domestic discretion on parameters such as holding limits, raising governance questions about central bank independence and rule‑setting. [Norges Bank]

#CBDC #Norway #Eurozone #Fintech #DFC #CrossBorder

·norges-bank.no·Mar 28, 2026

Potential Consequences for Norway of the Introduction of a Digital Euro (Norges Bank)

Norges Bank's Exploration of Central Bank Digital Currency (Norges Bank)

Norges Bank published four reports from its central bank digital currency (CBDC) exploratory work, which last year concluded that introducing a CBDC is currently not warranted. The need for such a currency may, however, change in the future. The four reports published today describe the exploration work and the assessments underpinning the conclusion. Norges Bank will continue to explore tokenization and different forms of CBDC in order to introduce a CBDC should it be necessary The Bank will explore the possibilities and consequences of tokenization through activities such as experimental technology testing, also in collaboration with other payment system participants. One of the papers documents sandbox tests of a two-tier, blockchain-based retail CBDC that central bank exclusively mints and redeems, while banks and other payment service providers manage all customer relationships and data. Tests show that role-based smart contracts can technically enforce this division of responsibilities and give the central bank only aggregate, real-time circulation data, but they also highlight structural privacy risks from linkable pseudonymous addresses and operational rigidity from immutable smart contracts. [Norges Bank]

#CBDC #Norway #Fintech #DFC

·norges-bank.no·Mar 28, 2026

Norges Bank's Exploration of Central Bank Digital Currency (Norges Bank)

Final Report of the Consultation on CBDC for Uganda (BOU)

[June 2025] The Bank of Uganda (BOU) published the final report on its central bank digital currency (CBDC) consultation. It argues that a CBDC merits further, phased exploration as a tool for modernizing payments, inclusion, and regional integration. The survey of 151 largely domestic, policy‑adjacent stakeholders found high reported trust in a CBDC, strong expectations of reduced cash‑handling costs and improved payment efficiency, and majority support for a retail, potentially programmable instrument that coexists with current systems. For policy and institutional design, the report frames CBDC as building on Uganda’s extensive mobile money and real-time gross settlement (RTGS) infrastructure, potentially enhancing transparency, cross‑border trade in the East African Community, and monetary policy implementation, while emphasizing preconditions around legal frameworks, cybersecurity, and stakeholder engagement. [BOU]

#CBDC #Uganda #Fintech #DFC

·bou.or.ug·Mar 28, 2026

Final Report of the Consultation on CBDC for Uganda (BOU)

Bank of Uganda Looking for Consultants for CBDC Feasibility Study (BOU)

The Bank of Uganda (BOU) is inviting qualified consultants or consulting firms to submit expressions of interest to conduct a comprehensive feasibility study on issuing a central bank digital currency (CBDC) in Uganda, covering technical infrastructure, legal and regulatory aspects, economic and social impacts, operational viability, and a detailed cost-benefit analysis using both quantitative and qualitative methods. The selected firm will assess national digital and payments infrastructure, propose and apply a robust methodology, and deliver specified reports demonstrating understanding, relevant experience, and a workplan. Participation is open under Bank of Uganda procurement rules, with detailed eligibility, experience, and team composition criteria (multi-disciplinary CBDC, payments, economic, legal, cybersecurity, and change-management experts) and a minimum technical score of 70 points for shortlisting. The deadline for submissions is on April 16, 2026. [BOU]

#CBDC #Uganda #DFC #Fintech

·web.archive.org·Mar 28, 2026

Bank of Uganda Looking for Consultants for CBDC Feasibility Study (BOU)

European Council Presses Co-Legislators on Digital Euro Legislation (European Council)

At its meeting on March 19, 2026, the European Council, the body comprising the heads of state or government of all European Union (EU) Member States, called on the EU’s two co-legislators, the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union (comprising Member State ministers), to conclude negotiations on the digital euro legislative proposal by end-2026. Although the European Council sets political direction and cannot itself pass legislation, its conclusions carry considerable authority. The deadline is consequential: the ECB has indicated that, assuming the regulation is adopted in 2026, pilot transactions could commence by mid-2027 and a first issuance could occur by 2029, with estimated development costs of approximately €1.3 billion. The ECB’s final decision on whether to issue a digital euro remains contingent on adoption of the enabling legislation. [European Council]

#ECB #CBDC #Fintech #DFC #Eurozone

·consilium.europa.eu·Mar 24, 2026

European Council Presses Co-Legislators on Digital Euro Legislation (European Council)

Public Discourse on Retail Payments and the Case of CBDC (Ulrich Bindseil)

Ulrich Bindseil posted a white paper that analyzes retail payments as a network industry shaped by strong incentives to influence public opinion and regulation. Due to network effects, high fixed costs, and path dependence, multiple architectures can deliver similar outcomes while redistributing value across stakeholders. The paper maps how banks, card schemes, Bigtechs, merchants, consumers, crypto actors, and public authorities promote strategic narratives, creating a noisy and biased policy debate. It evaluates central bank digital currency (CBDC) as a central policy choice, alongside alternatives such as regulation or public instant-payment systems. One of the paper’s key insights is that retail payment outcomes are not determined purely by efficiency, but by strategic communication, political economy, and institutional design under uncertainty. In addition, effective policy requires independent analysis, transparency, and preserving a balance between public and private money. [SSRN]

#CBDC #Payments #Fintech #DFC #FastPayments

·papers.ssrn.com·Mar 21, 2026

Public Discourse on Retail Payments and the Case of CBDC (Ulrich Bindseil)

Offline Payments at Scale as Digital Money (Crunchfish)

Crunchfish published an executive white paper that reframes offline payments from a resilience add-on to ledger-based payments platforms to core payments infrastructure. In a fully digital economy, the absence of offline capability becomes a systemic vulnerability, but the architecture matters. The paper provides an analytical framework for evaluating offline models as a lens for institutional alignment. It distinguishes between immediate offline (which shifts value and risk to devices), deferred offline (preserves ledger money but introduces credit and reconciliation risk) and governed offline (reservation-based in which funds remain reserved at source, enabling offline execution with deterministic settlement). The governed offline model aligns with card pre-authorization and smart contract settlement. In the case of central bank digital currency (CBDC) it maintains central bank control offline, preserves singleness of digital money and avoids fragmentation. [Crunchfish]

#Crunchfish #CBDC #Fintech #Payments #DFC #Offline

·crunchfish.com·Mar 21, 2026

Offline Payments at Scale as Digital Money (Crunchfish)

Bermuda's Premier Lays Ground for Digitally Native Dollar (Royal Gazette)

Bermuda’s Premier David Burt signalled a shift from the Government’s earlier strategy of relying solely on privately issued stablecoins toward exploring a digitally native Bermuda dollar, saying pilots and growing experience with stablecoin-based payments have prompted reconsideration of a public-sector role in issuance. He framed the prospective digital Bermuda dollar as a complementary, local instrument aimed at reducing friction in P2G transactions and strengthening monetary identity in a dollarized economy, noting that the Bermuda Monetary Authority and Ministry of Finance are now aligned on a legislative roadmap and beginning to evaluate infrastructure partners. While current stablecoin pilots continue and officials are examining whether such tokens could be accepted as legal tender, Burt emphasized that a future digital Bermuda dollar “may not be privately issued stable coins,” underscoring concerns that have been raised about consumer protection, dependence on private issuers, and the resilience of an “onchain” economy. [Royal Gazette]

#CBDC #Stablecoins #Fintech #Bermuda #DFC

·royalgazette.com·Mar 20, 2026

Bermuda's Premier Lays Ground for Digitally Native Dollar (Royal Gazette)

ECB Calls for Experts to Participate in Digital Euro Rulebook Development (ECB)

The European Central Bank (ECB) launched a call for experts to join two workstreams under the digital euro Rulebook Development Group (RDG) to support further development of the digital euro scheme rulebook, which will set common rules, standards and procedures for using the digital euro across the euro area. One workstream (G5) will focus on implementation specifications for ATMs and payment terminals, including communication technologies, integration of offline digital euro functionality and leveraging existing standards, requiring expertise in ATM and terminal interfacing or provision. The other (B1) will design a certification and approval framework for testing and certifying payment and acceptance solutions and infrastructure used by payment service providers in the digital euro ecosystem, requiring expertise in payments and acceptance devices. The ECB notes that the flexible draft rulebook will be updated to reflect the outcome of the EU legislative process, with any decision to issue a digital euro to follow only after legislation is adopted. [ECB]

#Eurozone #ECB #Fintech #DFC #CBDC

·ecb.europa.eu·Mar 19, 2026

ECB Calls for Experts to Participate in Digital Euro Rulebook Development (ECB)

Zero Knowledge Proof Authentication for Offline CBDC Payments (arXiv)

Santanu Mondal and T. Chithralekha propose a hybrid offline central bank digital currency (CBDC) architecture that uses zero-knowledge proofs (ZKPs) and secure hardware to enable cash-like payments on resource-constrained internet of things (IoT) devices while preserving regulatory oversight. The system combines a two-tier CBDC model with hierarchical “main wallet / IoT sub‑wallets,” secure elements and trusted execution environments for tamper-resistant key storage and counters, and NFC/BLE device-to-device transfers backed by lightweight ZKPs. This operationalizes intermittently offline CBDC designs, translating privacy-preserving anti–money laundering and counter–terrorist financing rules into on-device limits and ZKP circuits rather than continuous online monitoring, thereby shifting supervisory leverage into protocol and hardware design choices. Unresolved are empirical tradeoffs among proof complexity, device diversity, and real-world performance under regulatory stress scenarios. [arXiv]

#CBDC #ZKP #ZeroKnowledgeProofs #DFC #Fintech #Offline #IoT

·arxiv.org·Mar 19, 2026

Zero Knowledge Proof Authentication for Offline CBDC Payments (arXiv)

Bank of Korea Launches Full-Scale Implementation of "Project Han River" Phase 2 (BOK)

The Bank of Korea (BOK) announced Phase II of Project Hangang. It aims to trial large-scale, won-pegged deposit tokens built on a wholesale central bank digital currency (CBDC) layer, to cut transaction costs for both major corporations and small merchants burdened by credit card fees, building on Phase I’s system build out and 2025 live pilot. Participating banks will expand from 7 to 9 and merchant coverage will be significantly broadened. Phase II will test person to person transfers, biometric authentication, and automatic deposit token funding and sweep out. It will also deepen programmability, using digital vouchers in blockchain based treasury pilots such as an electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure project, and continue experiments with AI agent payments and tokenized bonds and equities. The 2026 agenda includes support for government treasury execution, and external consulting on regulation and operating models, with a Phase III vision of low cost universal payments, programmable financial services, and infrastructure for Korea’s broader digital asset ecosystem. [BOK]

#CBDC #Korea #Fintech #wCBDC #DepositTokens #DFC

·bok.or.kr·Mar 19, 2026

Bank of Korea Launches Full-Scale Implementation of "Project Han River" Phase 2 (BOK)

National Bank of Kazakhstan Digital Tenge Annual Review (NPCK)

The National Payment Corporation of Kazakhstan (NBK) published its annual review of the Digital Tenge project, which has shifted from research (2021) to limited production (2023) and scaled pilots in state-related payments (2025) within a broader National Digital Financial Infrastructure strategy. Programmable applications are focused on government spending, tax administration (“Digital VAT”), and targeted subsidies, rather than large-scale retail distribution. It operationalizes central bank digital currency (CBDC) as fiscal and public-finance infrastructure, tightening traceability, automating conditionality, and integrating with identification, anti-fraud, and open banking rails, rather than as a standalone payments product. The open question is how far Kazakhstan will extend CBDC use beyond state-linked flows and cross-border experiments once the 2026 roadmap and full-scale production decisions are implemented. [NPCK]

#CBDC #Fintech #DFC #Programmability #Kazakhstan

·npck.kz·Mar 11, 2026

National Bank of Kazakhstan Digital Tenge Annual Review (NPCK)

Bank of Canada Completes DLT-Based Bond Issuance Experiment (BOC)

The Bank of Canada (BOC) published a paper on the Project Samara live experiment where Export Development Corporation (EDC) issued a Canadian dollar (CAD) bond on a permissioned distributed ledger technology (DLT) platform and settled it in wholesale central bank digital money (W‑CAD), to test end‑to‑end tokenized issuance, T+0 atomic delivery-versus-settlement (DvP) settlement, secondary trading, and lifecycle management on a shared infrastructure. Built on Hyperledger Fabric with separate bond and cash ledgers linked by Hyperledger Weaver hash time lock contracts (HTLCs), the platform consolidates workflows that in traditional CAD markets span multiple intermediaries and systems. The project confirms technical feasibility and shows meaningful efficiency and risk‑management gains from automation, reduced reconciliation, real‑time positions, and atomic settlement. However, it finds higher liquidity costs, added operational and governance complexity, new key‑management and cyber risks, and significant legal/regulatory frictions. [BOC]

#CBDC #DLT #SettlementSystems #Canada #Settlement #Fintech #Tokenization #DFC #wCBDC

·bankofcanada.ca·Mar 6, 2026

Bank of Canada Completes DLT-Based Bond Issuance Experiment (BOC)

Call for Payment Service Providers to Participate in Digital Euro Pilot (ECB)

The European Central Bank (ECB) has opened applications for euro area licensed payment service providers (PSPs) to join a twelve‑month digital euro pilot in the second half of 2027. It will use a non‑legal‑tender “beta” digital euro in a controlled environment to test technical, operational and user experience (UX) aspects of P2P (online/offline) and P2B payments at physical and online points of sale. PSPs will onboard users and merchants without remuneration, be selected based on eligibility plus weighted criteria (compliance status, technical capacity, market presence, geographic/segment coverage, delivery track record), and then work directly with national central banks and Eurosystem teams. The ECB has published technical and procedural documentation and PSPs must apply by May 14, 2026, with the whole exercise framed as preparatory and conditional on future EU legislation and a separate decision to issue a digital euro. [ECB]

#CBDC #ECB #Eurozone #Fintech #DFC

·ecb.europa.eu·Mar 5, 2026

Call for Payment Service Providers to Participate in Digital Euro Pilot (ECB)

Digital Pound Design Phase Progress Update (BOE)

The Bank of England (BOE) published a progress update on the digital pound design phase, which is focusing on four workstreams: a joint assessment of need, policy and public‑interest impacts, commercial viability, and operational feasibility; a detailed blueprint covering product design, roles of intermediaries, interoperability in a multi‑money ecosystem, product roadmap, alias services and offline functionality; targeted experiments and proofs of concept (including a prototype ledger architecture and the Digital Pound Lab, where firms test use cases such as POS payments, conditional B2B payments, tourist wallets and programmable features via allowances and locks); and extensive engagement with industry, academia and civil society to refine requirements, privacy protections and user safeguards. This work is tightly linked to the UK National Payments Vision and the new Retail Payments Infrastructure Board, with an emphasis on interoperability between bank deposits, tokenized deposits, stablecoins and a potential digital pound, and on preserving access to cash, prohibiting “programmable money”, and embedding strong privacy and data‑protection guarantees in both law and system architecture. The design phase runs to 2026, and the Bank and HM Treasury plan to publish the blueprint assessment and a decision on whether to proceed with building a digital pound later in 2026. [BOE]

#CBDC #UnitedKingdom #Fintech #DFC

·bankofengland.co.uk·Mar 4, 2026

Digital Pound Design Phase Progress Update (BOE)

The New Financial Ecosystem and the Role of Central Banks (BOJ)

Bank of Japan (BOJ) Governor Ueda Kazuo provided updates to the central bank's digital payments projects. The BOJ is still investigating retail central bank digital currency (CBDC) with an eye towards providing a “digital form of cash” if needed, and has set up (and now plans to reorganize) a CBDC Forum to draw on private‑sector expertise and consider the future of payments more broadly. Internationally, the BOJ is participating in Project Agorá, exploring tokenized deposits and smart‑contract‑based cross‑border interbank payments on blockchains, and domestically it has launched a sandbox to test settlement in central bank current account balances on blockchain‑based systems, including links to existing infrastructures and use cases such as interbank and securities settlement. [BOJ]

#CBDC #Blockchain #Fintech #Payments #PaymentSystems #DFC #Japan

·boj.or.jp·Mar 3, 2026

The New Financial Ecosystem and the Role of Central Banks (BOJ)

Rwandan CBDC Project Moves to Pilot Phase (BNR)

The National Bank of Rwanda (BNR) published the results of its five‑month central bank digital currency (CBDC) proof of concept (PoC) with BNR staff that tested a retail e‑FRW across online, offline (dual‑offline smartcards), and USSD channels, confirming technical feasibility and the potential to enhance payment resilience, inclusion, and innovation. User research showed strong interest in using e-FRW if it is secure, easy to use, and widely accepted, with offline functionality viewed as essential for continuity in low‑connectivity areas. The PoC also explored wallet‑level programmability, ran a national ideathon to gauge ecosystem readiness, and simulated cross‑border atomic settlement, all within a two‑tier model that preserves the roles of financial institutions. Key lessons concern device diversity, onboarding, support processes, privacy and cybersecurity requirements, and the need for strong legal underpinnings, leading to a planned 12‑month pilot in Kigali, a secondary city, and rural sites to test real‑world use cases, integration, and cross‑border corridors under clearly defined key performance indicators (KPIs) and risk controls. Giesecke+Devrient (G+D) was the central bank's technology partner on the project. [BNR]

#Rwanda #CBDC #Fintech #DFC #Offline #G+D

·bnr.rw·Feb 27, 2026

Rwandan CBDC Project Moves to Pilot Phase (BNR)

ASEAN’s Digital Payment Revolution: A New Frontier for Regional Integration, Thailand (IMF)

The IMF published a paper that reviews how rapid digital payment adoption in ASEAN—especially Thailand’s PromptPay-led fast payments and QR linkages—is reshaping domestic and cross-border transactions by lowering costs, boosting financial inclusion, and supporting SMEs, while introducing new cyber, fraud, and AML risks. It documents a surge in domestic fast and QR payments, the build‑out of bilateral QR and fund-transfer linkages under ASEAN’s Regional Payment Connectivity and Local Currency Transaction frameworks, and emerging multilateral architectures such as BIS’s Project Nexus and wholesale CBDC platform mBridge to overcome the limits of fragmented bilateral models. Using Thai data for 2020–24, the empirical analysis finds that cross‑border QR usage rises when local‑currency–USD volatility is higher, suggesting local‑currency QR payments help users manage FX risk compared with card payments settled via the dollar, and that QR tends to substitute for traditional bank and card channels where financial access is weaker. The authors argue that scaling interoperable, local‑currency cross‑border QR schemes—alongside better data use for SME credit, stronger regional AML/CFT coordination, and harmonized data protection—can deepen ASEAN trade integration and strengthen financial resilience to external shocks. [IMF]

#Thailand #ASEAN #Fintech #CBDC #QR #Payments #DFC

·imf.org·Feb 27, 2026

ASEAN’s Digital Payment Revolution: A New Frontier for Regional Integration, Thailand (IMF)

Indian Government to Launch CBDC-Based Public Distribution System Pilot using (Government of India)

India's Union Home Minister Amit Shah announced the February 16, 2026 launch of India's first central bank digital currency (CBDC)-based public distribution system pilot. It introduces subsidy transfers for foodgrains through the Reserve Bank of India's CBDC platform. Under the pilot phase, 26,333 families across the Sabarmati zone of Ahmedabad, Surat, Anand, and Valsad receive digital tokens in their wallets containing details of commodity, quantity, and price. Beneficiaries using smartphones authenticate transactions by scanning QR codes at fair price shops, while those with feature phones receive one-time passwords through an Aadhaar-based verification system. The programmable CBDC coupons can only be used to purchase specified foodgrains at authorized ration shops and cannot be converted to cash, creating a clear audit trail of grain movement and subsidy utilization. [Government of India]

#CBDC #India #Payments #Fintech #DFC

·pib.gov.in·Feb 14, 2026

Indian Government to Launch CBDC-Based Public Distribution System Pilot using (Government of India)

Madagascar Projet eAriary One Pager (BFM)

[October 19, 2020] Banky Foiben'i Madagasikara (BFM) published a one-pager on its e-Ariary central bank digital currency (CBDC) project. The project aims to affirm monetary sovereignty, ensure financial system stability, promote financial inclusion, control physical currency circulation, and establish a modern payment system in response to the global shift toward digital payments, cryptocurrencies, and new financial actors accelerated by COVID-19. The project follows a cautious two-phase approach: first conducting analysis, design, and experimentation, then proceeding to deployment only if the pilot phase proves successful, while carefully managing potential impacts on monetary and financial stability. [BFM]

#Fintech #CBDC #Madagascar #DFC

·banky-foibe.mg·Feb 13, 2026

Madagascar Projet eAriary One Pager (BFM)

European Parliament Votes for Online and Offline Digital Euro (Central Banking)

On February 10, 2025 the European Union (EU) Parliament has endorsed the digital euro initiative, reaching agreement with the European Council on creating a currency that will function both online and offline. They rejected an earlier proposal by the parliamentary rapporteur that would have restricted the digital euro to an offline version only (420 votes in favor, 158 against and 64 abstentions). Members of Parliament approved an amendment that stated that the central bank digital currency (CBDC) was “essential to strengthen EU monetary sovereignty, reduce fragmentation in retail payments, and support the integrity and resilience of the single market [as] the increasing digitalization of payments, if left exclusively to private and non-EU actors, risks creating new forms of exclusion for both users and merchants" (438 in favor, 158 against and 44 abstentions). https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/TA-10-2026-0034_EN.html [Central Banking and European Parliament]

#CBDC #Eurozone #Fintech #ECB #Offline #DFC

·centralbanking.com·Feb 12, 2026

European Parliament Votes for Online and Offline Digital Euro (Central Banking)

Central Bank Digital Currency and Gresham's Law: An Experimental Analysis (SNB)

The Swiss National Bank (SNB) published a paper that examines how people use central bank digital currency (CBDC) versus risky bank deposits through a laboratory experiment. The researchers tested Gresham's law—the principle that "bad money drives out good"—by having participants allocate funds between a risk-free account (like CBDC) and a risky account (like bank deposits) that could lose 50% with 10% probability. Key findings show that when the risk-free account is unrestricted, people extensively hold and pay with it. However, when limited by a ceiling or negative interest rate, people tend to hoard the risk-free money as a store of value while using risky money for payments—confirming Gresham's law. The study concludes that mechanisms designed to limit CBDC holdings (necessary to protect the banking system) may undermine its effectiveness as a payment method, suggesting it may be better to build payment systems on existing bank deposits rather than CBDC. [Source: SNB]

#CBDC #Fintech #DFC #FinancialStability

·snb.ch·Feb 8, 2026

Central Bank Digital Currency and Gresham's Law: An Experimental Analysis (SNB)