This year, four pilot projects will assess the usage of a digital Singapore dollar by individuals, corporations, and the government to make and receive specific payments.
The trial programs are led by DBS Bank, Grab, OCBC Bank, and UOB in collaboration with government agencies and the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), according to a statement released by the central bank on Monday.
The experiments are centered on the concept of purpose-bound money (PBM), a form of digital currency that would allow issuers to specify conditions, such as validity time and types of stores where it may be used, when transferring funds to people and enterprises.
DBS and the Open Government Products (OGP) division of the Government Technology Agency will test the usage of a digital currency that can be used to redeem government-issued vouchers.
Trial participants will utilize RedeemSG, a voucher system developed by OGP, to assist government agencies in Singapore with the creation, issuance, and tracking of voucher redemption at participating food and beverage outlets, with merchants receiving the underlying digital Singapore dollar for vouchers redeemed instantly.
Grab is collaborating with Temasek, a Singaporean investment organization, and Fazz Financial, a fintech startup, to test the issue of PBM as commercial digital vouchers to attendees of the Singapore FinTech Festival on Wednesday and Thursday.
Participants in the trial can use these vouchers using their favorite wallet programs to make purchases from festival businesses.
Help us improve your newspaper reading experience
OCBC and the Central Provident Fund Board will evaluate the use of PBM for disbursing funds from government entities to individuals without a bank account.
The study will be done in a controlled setting with chosen individuals utilizing a test disbursement mechanism.
UOB and SkillsFuture Singapore (SSG) will test the use of PBM to enhance the current SkillsFuture Credit disbursement procedure, allowing grants to be disbursed automatically to participating training providers when eligibility requirements are satisfied.
The pilot programs are a result of the MAS's decision last year to suspend for the time being the introduction of a retail central bank digital currency (CBDC), which is the digital counterpart of today's banknotes and coins.
The Malaysian Monetary Authority (MAS) stated on Monday that it continues to aggressively investigate viable use cases for digital currencies in collaboration with industry partners and other government bodies.
It also produced a second research explaining the potential applications of a digital Singapore dollar tailored for use with PBM and the necessary infrastructure to support it.
The report, according to MAS, signifies the effective completion of Phase 1 of its Project Orchid, which aims to develop the technical capabilities and competences necessary for MAS to issue a retail CBDC if the need arises.
Mr. Sopnendu Mohanty, the central bank's top fintech officer, stated that MAS's grasp of the possible uses of a digital Singapore dollar has been enhanced via experimenting with the industry.
In the MAS statement, he stated, "We look forward to increased collaboration with industry players and policymakers in future phases of Project Orchid."
The Project Orchid study offers design concepts for the implementation of a programmable digital Singapore dollar for prospective use cases.
Future study topics, according to MAS, will concentrate on enhancing the user experience, bolstering security and privacy features, and making it more accessible to the general public.
Included among the collaborating financial institutions in Project Orchid are DBS, Fazz Financial, Grab, Nets, OCBC, and UOB. OGP supports the government use cases for the initiative, while Temasek supports the business use cases.
Kommentare