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Future of payments 2024: Many Paths, One Goal
Future of payments 2024: Many Paths, One Goal
The Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum (OMFIF) Digital Monetary Institute (DMI) published its annual Future of Payments report, based on a survey of 34 central banks, 13 from advanced and 21 from emerging market economies. It found that platforms based on multi-currency central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) are emerging as alternatives to existing cross-border payments systems, with Project mBridge being the most advanced, although liquidity issues and governance concerns still pose limitations for widespread adoption. CBDC interoperability will be a key consideration for global payments going forward, with a hub-and-spoke model being favored by survey respondents. Standardization (e.g., migrating to ISO 20022 standards) is helping to reduce the costs and frictions in cross-border payments, but implementation is patchy. However, instant payments systems are rapidly growing in importance, with 47% of survey respondents selecting it as the most promising avenue for improving cross-border payments.
·omfif.org·
Future of payments 2024: Many Paths, One Goal
Call for candidates to contribute to the digital euro brand rules
Call for candidates to contribute to the digital euro brand rules
The European Central Bank (ECB) is inviting leading experts in branding and communication with advanced knowledge of payments and digital money to contribute to the brand rules workstream. This workstream is the part of the Rulebook Development Group that is to develop a proposal for brand rules that participants in the digital euro scheme, i.e. supervised payment service providers (PSPs), will adopt for their end-user solutions. This excludes brand strategy, expression and the visual identity of the digital euro.
·ecb.europa.eu·
Call for candidates to contribute to the digital euro brand rules
Third meeting of the Bank of Japan CBDC Forum
Third meeting of the Bank of Japan CBDC Forum
The Bank of Japan (BOJ) published an English version of slides presented at the October 17, 2024 meeting of its CBDC Forum. The BOJ provided an update on the development of the prototype system details of the system, and updates on progress made by different working groups. Since April 2023, the BOJ has been conducting technical evaluations not explored in the earlier proof of concept phase, while leveraging the skills and insights of private businesses. https://www.boj.or.jp/en/paym/digital/dig240531a.pdf
·boj.or.jp·
Third meeting of the Bank of Japan CBDC Forum
Sovereign Yidindji Dollar
Sovereign Yidindji Dollar
The Yidindji Reserve Bank acts as the sovereign monetary authority for the Yidindji Nation. It may issue its own currency or develop alternative systems of exchange that reflect Indigenous values and economic priorities under instruction from the Office of Chief Minister & the Department of the Treasury.
·yidindji.org·
Sovereign Yidindji Dollar
Russian ministry urges 2-year transition period for CBDC adoption
Russian ministry urges 2-year transition period for CBDC adoption
The Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade has called for a two-year transition period before making merchant acceptance of digital ruble payments mandatory, citing concerns over unprepared infrastructure. The draft law that would make digital ruble payments mandatory for large retailers by July 2025, which could create serious challenges for those businesses. The Ministry particularly emphasized the need for clear operational guidelines, and additional time to finalize software, update information systems, conduct testing, and train staff. https://iz.ru/1797505/2024-11-27/torgovla-zaprosila-dva-goda-na-perehod-k-cifrovomu-rublu
·crypto.news·
Russian ministry urges 2-year transition period for CBDC adoption
Retail CBDC legal and system design considerations
Retail CBDC legal and system design considerations
The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) published reports on retail central bank digital currency (CBDC) system design and legal considerations. They were written by a group comprised of the BIS and seven central banks (Bank of Canada, the Bank of England, the Bank of Japan, the European Central Bank, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, Sveriges Riksbank and the Swiss National Bank). The system design paper provides perspectives on overall system design and four key issues: privacy, cyber security (including quantum computing), offline functionality and point of sale considerations. The legal paper examines key legal questions, focusing on four areas: the legal classification of retail CBDC; the obligations and liabilities of participants in the retail CBDC ecosystem; privacy and financial crime and cross-border issues.
·bis.org·
Retail CBDC legal and system design considerations
Credit Agricole CIB, CACEIS experiment with tokenized deposits, wCBDC as part of ECB trials
Credit Agricole CIB, CACEIS experiment with tokenized deposits, wCBDC as part of ECB trials
As part of the ECB wholesale DLT settlement trials, Crédit Agricole CIB simulated cross border payments using a tokenized correspondent banking model with the interbank settlement conducted with the Banque de France's pilot CBDC on its DL3S platform. This experiment tested the potential for corporate clients to manage their real time treasury cash balances 24/7 across jurisdictions.
·ledgerinsights.com·
Credit Agricole CIB, CACEIS experiment with tokenized deposits, wCBDC as part of ECB trials
EIB issues second €100m digital bond in a week using wCBDC
EIB issues second €100m digital bond in a week using wCBDC
The European Investment Bank (EIB) issued another €100 million digital bond. using the Banque de France’s pilot wholesale central bank digital currency (CBDC) for settlement, as part of the European Central Bank’s (ECB’s) wholesale DLT settlement trials in central bank money which end this month. This time, Goldman Sachs provided its GS DAP as the tokenization platform for the issuance, with Goldman Sachs Bank Europe acting as joint lead manager alongside DZ Bank and LBBW. https://www.eib.org/en/investor-relations/press/all/fi-2024-14-eib-2nd-digital-bond-eurosystem-explanatory-work
·ledgerinsights.com·
EIB issues second €100m digital bond in a week using wCBDC
Iran Central Bank Governor Announces Imminent Launch of Digital Rial
Iran Central Bank Governor Announces Imminent Launch of Digital Rial
Central Bank of Iran Governor Mohammad Reza Farzin reportedly announced that the launch of a digital rial is imminent. A pilot test of the retail central bank digital currency (CBDC) reportedly commenced in July 2024 on the island of Kish, involving two major Iranian banks, Mellat and Tejarat. https://news.bitcoin.com/iran-officially-unveils-central-bank-digital-currency-project/
·tasnimnews.com·
Iran Central Bank Governor Announces Imminent Launch of Digital Rial
The Swedish retail payment infrastructure needs to be modernised
The Swedish retail payment infrastructure needs to be modernised
Sveriges Riksbank called for the modernization of its retail payments infrastructure and the creation of processes for secure, efficient and accessible retail payments. More specifically, the central bank argued that the infrastructure for clearing (compilation and processing of payment orders) and settlement (finalization) of retail payments in Swedish kronor needs modernization. It presented its view of the way forward over the next five years. Interestingly, no mention was made of an e-kronor retail central bank digital currency (CBDC).
·riksbank.se·
The Swedish retail payment infrastructure needs to be modernised
EIB issues €100m digital bond to be settled with wholesale CBDC
EIB issues €100m digital bond to be settled with wholesale CBDC
The European Investment Bank (EIB) issued €100 million of digital bonds that will be settled using the Banque de France's pilot wholesale central bank digital currency (CBDC) as part of the European Central Bank (ECB) wholesale distributed ledger technology (DLT) settlement trials. (The Banque de France actually refers to the wholesale CBDC tokens issued on its DL3S DLT platform as "tokenized representations of central bank money (CeBM)".) The bonds will be issued on the HSBC Orion platform. https://www.eib.org/en/investor-relations/press/all/fi-2024-13-eib-digital-bond-eurosystem-explanatory-work
·ledgerinsights.com·
EIB issues €100m digital bond to be settled with wholesale CBDC
The impact of the digital euro on Austrian banks
The impact of the digital euro on Austrian banks
The Oesterreichische Nationalbank (ONB) published a paper that studies the impact the introduction of the digital euro might on Austrian banks from a financial stability perspective, based on the premise that the digital euro will not bear interest and will be subject to a holding limit. With respect to bank liquidity risk and profitability, it finds substantial effects only for extreme scenarios and high holding limits. Lower holding limits effectively contain adverse outcomes both with respect to interest income losses and liquidity risk. Overall, we conclude that the introduction of a digital euro would not pose a threat to the stability of the Austrian banking system provided the digital euro is subject to a carefully designed holding limit and remuneration model. From a purely financial stability perspective, low holding limits would be preferable to higher ones.
·oenb.at·
The impact of the digital euro on Austrian banks
The impact of CBDC on central bank profitability, risk-taking and capital
The impact of CBDC on central bank profitability, risk-taking and capital
The ECB published a paper (co-written by Ulrich Bindseil) that uses scenario analyses to illustrate the key drivers of the impact of central bank digital currency (CBDC) on central bank profitability. It finds that CBDC will have broadly the same balance sheet and profit implications as the issuance of banknotes. It shows that pure exchange of banknotes for CBDC has no further implications on central banks’ balance sheets, and thus their financial risks, profits and capital. This is different, however, for other exchanges of monetary liabilities, such as commercial bank deposits, which increase the amount of unremunerated central bank monetary liabilities and may require the creation of additional reserves for banks via the corresponding additional central bank assets. The last two points would tend to give rise to higher income for central banks in a positive interest rate environment. However, these risk implications can be managed via well-established frameworks and likely be mitigated by measures to limit CBDC take-up.
·ecb.europa.eu·
The impact of CBDC on central bank profitability, risk-taking and capital
A Method for Uncovering Tokenisation Archetypes and their Effects
A Method for Uncovering Tokenisation Archetypes and their Effects
Anisa Plepi and Peter Schendner posted a paper that proposes a framework for aggregating and categorizing viewpoints on fundamental issues concerning tokenization, and assessing the causal effects of tokenization on market outcomes, using bonds as an example. The framework starts with a taxonomy of bond tokenization use cases according to the tokenization model, which is fed into a causal model to assess how would the outcomes, characterizing its lifecycle processes change if a bond had been tokenized instead of using the traditional infrastructure. Or alternatively, how would the outcomes of interest change if a bond had been exchanged in the traditional infrastructure instead of being tokenized? The paper then proposes an outcomes matrix to estimate the effects of tokenization on particular outcomes for which there are 25 metrics. The framework then conceptualizes the Swiss National Bank (SNB) Project Helvetia tokenization approach and evaluate its effects on efficiency and liquidity.
·papers.ssrn.com·
A Method for Uncovering Tokenisation Archetypes and their Effects
Norway can wait with CBDC, government task force says
Norway can wait with CBDC, government task force says
A Norwegian government-sponsored task force concluded that there's no rush for the central bank to launch an e-kroner. However, work should be started “on the necessary regulatory changes” for a possible introduction of a CBDC that may become relevant in future. “The committee doesn’t currently see a need to introduce digital central bank money for reasons of financial inclusion, privacy or emergency preparedness, but doesn’t rule out that a central bank digital currency may in the future be a relevant instrument for safeguarding these considerations." https://www.regjeringen.no/no/dokumenter/nou-2024-21/id3074368/?ch=1
·bloomberg.com·
Norway can wait with CBDC, government task force says
U.K. government confirms ongoing digital pound design phase
U.K. government confirms ongoing digital pound design phase
The U.K. HM Treasury published its National Payments Vision, in which it committed to continue the design phase for a retail central bank digital currency (CBDC) in partnership with the Bank of England. It reconfirmed that no decision has been taken on whether to implement a digital pound, but any decision to proceed would be accompanied by the introduction of primary legislation, ensuring full Parliamentary scrutiny by both Houses of Parliament, before any launch. Legislation would be preceded by a further public consultation and would guarantee users’ privacy and control of their money. "Irrespective of the final decision, by partnering with the private sector on proofs of concept and experiments, the work will support private innovation in digital currency technologies [and] deepen the retail payments expertise of the UK public authorities.
·gov.uk·
U.K. government confirms ongoing digital pound design phase
Odisha launches Subhadra Yojana digital rupee direct transfer scheme
Odisha launches Subhadra Yojana digital rupee direct transfer scheme
In September 2024, the Subhadra Yojana, a direct transfer initiative for women in the state of Odisha, became India's first government program to allow beneficiaries to receive payouts in digital rupee central bank digital currency (CBDC). Approximately 12,000 beneficiaries received the first annual Rs 10,000 instalment and were notified of the deposit via text messages. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subhadra_Yojana
·economictimes.indiatimes.com·
Odisha launches Subhadra Yojana digital rupee direct transfer scheme
Digital SNB Bills premature says Swiss National Bank
Digital SNB Bills premature says Swiss National Bank
The Swiss National Bank (SNB) published the results of its pilot test of a monetary policy operation on the SIX Digital Exchange (SDX) distributed ledger technology (DLT) platform. As part of Project Helvetia III, in June 2024 the SNB issued digital SNB Bills settled in wholesale central bank digital currency (CBDC) in a production environment. The Bills were redeemed sever day later. It showed that implementing monetary policy on a DLT-based infrastructure is feasible and effective. While the corresponding processes bring about some improvements, new challenges emerge. The SNB concluded that "the question of whether to conduct monetary policy operations on a DLT-based infrastructure is premature [and] ramping up such operations would also entail significant investment for the SNB, its counterparties as well as infrastructure providers". https://www.snb.ch/en/publications/research/economic-notes/2024/economic_note_2024_04
Hence, the question of whether to conduct monetary policy operations on a DLT-based infrastructure is premature. Ramping up such operations would also entail significant investment for the SNB, its counterparties as well as infrastructure providers,
·ledgerinsights.com·
Digital SNB Bills premature says Swiss National Bank
ABN AMRO completes second Eurosystem-digital currency test
ABN AMRO completes second Eurosystem-digital currency test
ABN AMRO executed four repo pilot trades with DLT-based wholesale central bank digital currency (CBDC) utilizing tokenized commercial paper (CP) as collateral in late October 2024. This served to test one of three payment options (in this case the one being led by the Banque de France) that are part of the ECB's DLT-based wholesale settlement trials. ABN AMRO issued €1.1 million of the tokenized CP that was used as collateral in the latest transaction, which involved four reverse repo transactions between ABN AMRO Bank, ABN AMRO Clearing, and Rabobank, cleared by Eurex Clearing. In a repo Repo (repurchase) transaction one party (e.g., Bank A) sells securities to another party (e.g., Bank B) and agrees to buy them back later at a slightly higher price. ABN AMRO Bank's Treasury regularly uses repos for balance sheet management. https://www.ledgerinsights.com/euro-wholesale-cbdc-used-to-settle-abn-amro-digital-commercial-paper-on-dlt/
·abnamro.com·
ABN AMRO completes second Eurosystem-digital currency test
Intesa Sanpaolo issues tokenized commercial paper as part of ECB DLT settlement trials
Intesa Sanpaolo issues tokenized commercial paper as part of ECB DLT settlement trials
Intesa Sanpaolo issued €10 million in commercial paper (CP) using Clearstream’s D7 tokenization platform, using the Bank of Italy’s TIPS Hashlink solution for settlement. TIPS Hashlink is one of three payment options that are part of the European Central Bank’s (ECB’s) distributed ledger technology (DLT) based wholesale settlement trials. Rather than use the on-chain central bank money (i.e., central bank digital currency) being used in the other two trails, the Hashlink interoperability mechanism is used to settle the transaction using the ECB-run Trans-European Automated Real-time Gross settlement Express Transfer (TARGET) Instant Payment Settlement (TIPS) system. This is apparently only the second test of this platform, the other being a €25 million Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (CDP) digital bond issue in July 2024. https://www.ledgerinsights.com/cdp-issues-digital-bond-on-polygon-blockchain-using-new-italian-law/
·ledgerinsights.com·
Intesa Sanpaolo issues tokenized commercial paper as part of ECB DLT settlement trials
CBDC: Progress And Further Considerations
CBDC: Progress And Further Considerations
The IMF published a staff update on global central bank digital currency (CBDC) developments, and updated the landing page for its work-in-progress CBDC virtual handbook. New chapters, which have already been released as Fintech Notes, cover the positioning of CBDC in the payments landscape, cyber resilience of the CBDC ecosystem, CBDC adoption, CBDC data use and privacy protection, implications for monetary policy operations, and cross-border payments with retail CBDC. The update also provides a roadmap of forthcoming chapters, which will presumably also be pre-released as Fintech Notes. https://www.imf.org/en/Topics/fintech/central-bank-digital-currency/virtual-handbook
·imf.org·
CBDC: Progress And Further Considerations
Caisse des Dépôts issues €100m digital bond settled with pilot wCBDC
Caisse des Dépôts issues €100m digital bond settled with pilot wCBDC
Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations (CDC) issued a €100 million digital bond settled using the Banque de France’s DL3S DLT platform using its pilot wholesale central bank digital currency (CBDC). The transaction formed part of the European Central Bank’s wholesale distributed ledger technology (DLT) settlement trials. The Banque de France avoids using the term wholesale CBDC, instead referring to it as a tokenized representation of central bank money. For the CDC issuance, it required synchronizing the issuance of the digitally native note (DNN) on Euroclear’s D-FMI platform with the settlement on the central bank’s DL3S.
·ledgerinsights.com·
Caisse des Dépôts issues €100m digital bond settled with pilot wCBDC
Digital yuan visual hard wallet launched
Digital yuan visual hard wallet launched
The People's Bank of China (PBOC) launched a credit card-sized digital yuan (e-CNY) hard wallet that supports online and offline payments and features a screen that displays balance and payment details, and dynamic QR codes for payments. The digital wallet enables both "tap-to-pay" and "scan-to-pay" options, letting merchants accept payments on POS machines, scanners and mobile devices, without requiring new hardware. The wallet is reportedly already available for public transport payments in some cities. An earlier version of the card launched in 2021 included buttons so that users could enter the payment amount, and the e-ink visual display was small. https://www.ithome.com/0/808/679.htm https://www.ledgerinsights.com/china-upgrades-digital-rmb-cbdc-hardware-wallet/
·globaltimes.cn·
Digital yuan visual hard wallet launched
Refining the Definition of the Unbanked
Refining the Definition of the Unbanked
A paper co-written by Federal Reserve Board (FRB) staffer Elena Falcettoni proposes to differentiate individuals without a bank account but would like to have one (the "unbanked") from individuals that do not have a bank account and are not interested in having one (the "out of banking population"). While the unbanked mostly cite financial and past credit or banking history problems as reasons for not having a bank account, the out of banking population cites a growing mistrust toward the traditional banking system. The paper finds that the latter comprises over 70% of U.S. households without a bank account and concludes that to bank the unbanked (the other 30%) policy interventions should be aimed at encouraging financial institutions to offer more accessible and affordable services.
·papers.ssrn.com·
Refining the Definition of the Unbanked
City of Lugano Issues Third Digital Bond on SDX
City of Lugano Issues Third Digital Bond on SDX
The Swiss City of Lugano issued its third digital bond on SDX, bringing Lugano's digital bond total to CHF 320 million. Aligned with SDX's objectives under Project Helvetia, this bond leverages a wholesale central bank digital currency (CBDC) for settlement. With dual listing on SDX and the SIX Swiss Exchange, this bond also ensures seamless access for investors across both digital and traditional trading channels.
·marketsmedia.com·
City of Lugano Issues Third Digital Bond on SDX
The Digital Shekel Challenge - La Finale
The Digital Shekel Challenge - La Finale
The Bank of Israel (BOI) concluded its Digital Shekel Challenge with presentations by the 14 entities selected to develop innovative use cases for the digital shekel. The use cases presented demonstrated the potential of the digital shekel to help create advanced payment solutions and lead innovation in Israel's payment system. First place was awarded to Siara for a platform for returning debtors to an economic growth path, second went to Paypal for a smart payroll payments system, third to IDEMIA for an offline payments solution, and the "People's Choice" to QEDIT for a platform that enhances trust for digital transactions using advanced cryptography. https://www.boi.org.il/en/communication-and-publications/press-releases/the-bank-of-israel-held-a-concluding-conference-for-the-digital-shekel-challenge-today-and-announced-the-winners-of-the-challenge/
·linkedin.com·
The Digital Shekel Challenge - La Finale
The digital euro: what’s in it for you?
The digital euro: what’s in it for you?
"Most Europeans now juggle different cards, apps and devices depending on each payment situation, finding that the convenience of digital payments doesn’t always live up to the promise. In the euro area, we are stuck in a fragmented system, where digital payment solutions don’t cover all our needs. While you might easily use a card to pay contactless for a meal or a taxi ride in cities like Madrid or Paris, rural areas in Germany or Austria often only accept cash or local debit cards. Similarly, some mobile apps work well for sending money to family or friends but aren’t accepted for online purchases or by local businesses. In a nutshell, we still don’t have a digital payment solution that works effectively everywhere in the euro area in all payment situations." (ECB Executive Board Member Piero Cipollone)
·ecb.europa.eu·
The digital euro: what’s in it for you?
BIS hands over mBridge CBDC payment system
BIS hands over mBridge CBDC payment system
The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) has handed the mBridge central bank digital currency (CBDC) based cross-border payments platform over to the central banks of China, Hong Kong, Saudi Arabia, Thailand and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). According to BIS General Manager Agustín Carstens, this was not because of “political considerations” but because after the project’s four years it is “at a level where the partners can carry it on by themselves”. This has happened already with other projects such as the Swiss National Bank’s Project Helvetia. By “political considerations”, Mr. Carstens was referring to stories that during discussions among central bankers and finance chiefs at the October 2024 International Monetary Fund and World Bank Annual Meetings, concerns were expressed about the fact that China is supplying the platform’s key technological backbone, and that China and the UAE are BRICS members. (In that regard it is notable that the U.S. Federal Reserve has not joined the project.) https://www.bis.org/speeches/sp241031.htm
·ledgerinsights.com·
BIS hands over mBridge CBDC payment system
ECB looking for innovation partnerships for the digital euro
ECB looking for innovation partnerships for the digital euro
The European Central Bank (ECB) has established a digital euro innovation platform to collaborate with stakeholders. The main goal is to (i) demonstrate how conditional payments could be implemented on a technical level, (ii) provide the opportunity for participants to interact with simulated digital euro interfaces, and (iii) explore additional use cases, ideas and visions that stakeholders may have for the digital euro. The ECB is encouraging all interested stakeholders to contribute, and it will carefully consider all applications before making selections in early January 2025. Selected “visionaries” will be invited to half-day workshops to present their idea to the ECB, and will be asked to provide a summarizing outcome report.
·ecb.europa.eu·
ECB looking for innovation partnerships for the digital euro
Digital Tenge pilot project streamlines VAT reimbursement for exporters
Digital Tenge pilot project streamlines VAT reimbursement for exporters
The National Bank of Kazakhstan (NBK) in collaboration with the State Revenue Committee (Tax Authority) of the Ministry of Finance has launched a Digital Tenge pilot project focused on value-added tax (VAT) reimbursement for exporters. This initiative leverages the programmability of central bank digital currency (CBDC) to automatically mark VAT in business-to-business (B2B) transactions. By doing so, the need for manual checks by tax authorities, is eliminated, significantly streamlining the reimbursement process. It reduced the reimbursement time from 70–75 working days to 10–15 days, with the goal of achieving instant reimbursement in the near future. In total, approximately 40 billion worth of Digital Tenge is now in circulation in the various pilot projects.
·linkedin.com·
Digital Tenge pilot project streamlines VAT reimbursement for exporters