SWIFT Enlists Three Central Banks for CBDC Connector Beta Test
Swift has announced the second phase of CBDC Connector beta testing.
30 financial institutions have enrolled in the program.
Three central banks have agreed to integrate the CBDC connector for testing. Global financial messaging platform SWIFT announced on September 13 that it had enrolled three central banks, among other reputable monetary authorities, to participate in the second phase of sandbox experiments with its CBDC Connector.The CBDC Connector is Swift’s solution for interlinking Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs), heralded to hold “clear potential and value” following a previous 12-week collaborative testing period that ended in March.The Second Testing PhasePer the announcement, three central banks, including the National Bank of Kazakhstan and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), will integrate Swift’s CBDC Connector solution with their infrastructures for direct testing.
The testing will explore multiple use cases, such as liquidity-saving mechanisms, trigger-based payments for digital trade platforms, delivery vs. payment, and foreign exchange models.
Swift also mentioned that the number of financial institutions participating in the second sandbox testing has grown to 30, up from the 18 central and commercial banks enlisted in the first phase. Some participants in the enlarged group of testers include The Reserve Bank of Australia, the Bank of Thailand, Deutsche Bundesbank, and CLS.Our focus is on interoperability – ensuring that new digital currencies can seamlessly coexist with each other and with today’s fiat-based currencies and payment systems. This next phase of testing and exploration will help us further refine the solution to ensure it is as effective as possible and at scale,” Tom Zschach, Chief Innovation Officer at Swift, said.Are CBDCs Gaining Traction?To date, 130 countries, representing 90% of the world’s GDP, are experimenting with CBDCs. 19 countries in the G20 are in advanced development stages, with nine already in pilot.
While the sentiment on CBDCs is generally positive, the Central Bank of Canada recently published a CBDC report that painted a concept marred with adoption challenges.