A cross-industry consortium is being launched in the UK to reimagine and test new payment rails for the global financial system.
The Digital FMI Consortium – which stands for ‘Digital Financial Market Infrastructure’ – is the body behind Project New Era, the UK’s privately-led Digital Sterling (dSterling) pilot, set to launch in the autumn.
The group will focus on real-world testing to evaluate a future digital currency ecosystem, environment and economy that includes the coexistence of current forms of money, regulated digital assets and Central Bank Digital Currencies.
The consortium intends to use the blueprint set out by Project New Era to launch private-sector pilots in multiple jurisdictions across the world.
Members include IBM, Finastra, FinClusive, Ibanera, paywith.glass, Mattereum, Trust Payments and Accomplish Financial, with further members set to be announced.
“The world is undergoing a financial revolution from which there is no turning back,” said Kunal Jhanji, MD and partner at consulting partner Boston Consulting Group.
“With the advent of DLT and blockchain technology, digital assets are ushering in a new era for money, with potentially transformative benefits for consumers, businesses, financial institutions and states.
“The industry needs to now come together to help the lawmakers and central banks shape the design and regulatory aspects of the biggest change we will see in the payments ecosystem in our lifetimes.”
The pilot will test high-potential use-cases and provide empirical inputs to policymakers and regulators on future design considerations for CBDC development and stablecoin regulation.
Paul Sisnett, the CEO and co-founder of ‘paywith.glass’, a digital currency infrastructure solution, explained why the consortium is launching its first pilot in the UK.
“The UK has a proud history of invention and innovation. When Tim Berners-Lee invented the World Wide Web in 1989 to meet the demand for automated information-sharing between scientists in universities and institutes around the world, he did not anticipate that his creation would profoundly and permanently change the way we live and interact to this day,” he said.
“The emergence of digital currencies represents the biggest technological revolution since then, and the final step in the full digital transformation of the global financial system. The global race for the future of money is well underway, and we couldn’t be more excited to be leading the UK’s ambition to set the pace.”