The central bank of France has named eight financial and tech players as potential partners to test the applications for its central bank digital currency CBDC interbank settlements. Among the named partners are Accenture, Euroclear, HSBC, Iznes, LiquidShare, ProsperUS, SEBA Bank, and Société Générale. The central bank of France has already tested its digital euro in a real-world transaction with Société Générale and is now expanding the same with other partners.
“The experiments with the chosen candidates will focus on three areas.”
The central bank of France’s announcement detailed that the experiments with the chosen financial companies will focus on three areas. These areas include exploring new methods of exchanging financial instruments for central bank money, testing regulation in digital central bank money to improve the conditions of execution of cross-border payments, and revisit the methods of making central bank money available. Central banks across countries are experimenting with CBDCs. China is set to become the first major nation to issue its national digital currency.
Central banks continue to research and experiment with CBDCs.
Central banks around the world are currently researching and experimenting with CBDCs within their capacities. Earlier, the Bank for International Standards had released a report saying that ongoing global pandemic has caused central banks to actively think about CBCDs as people avoid transactions in physical money. The People’s Bank of China has been working on its national digital currency for five to six years and is now very close to issuing it to the general public. Central banks in European countries have also spoken in favor of centralized digital currencies. According to the Bank of International Settlement report, central banks in emerging economies are more likely to launch their CBDC compared to central banks in developed economies.
