Bank of England Selects DLT Projects for RTGS Atomic Settlement Trials (BOE)
The Bank of England (BOE) has selected ten projects involving eighteen companies to participate in its Synchronisation Lab, which will run for approximately six months starting in Spring. This initiative, part of Project Meridian, aims to test how tokenization and distributed ledger technology (DLT) projects can achieve atomic settlement using central bank money by synchronizing with the real time gross settlement (RTGS) system. The Lab will validate design models for data sharing with RTGS and demonstrate potential applications, allowing both RTGS account holders and DLT operators to participate in the simulation, though it won’t be a live system at this stage. [Source: BOE]
The Bank of England Seeks Engagement on Retail Payments (BOE)
Also, the BOE is establishing three new forums as part of its National Payments Vision to develop next-generation retail payments infrastructure. The Payments End User Forum will gather input from consumers, small businesses, and charities to ensure systems meet real-world needs; the Payments Innovation Design Group will bring together fintech firms, payment providers, and technology companies to explore emerging opportunities and challenges; and the Payments Academic Advisory Group (expanded from the previous CBDC Academic Advisory Group) will convene academics and policy experts to provide evidence-based insights on the future of payments. Applications to join these forums are open until 5pm on March 3, 2026, with the goal of creating a more resilient, innovative, and inclusive payments landscape for the UK. [Source: BOE]
Adoption of Payment Innovations: The Case of Digital Wallets in Peru (BIS)
The BIS published a paper that examines the rapid adoption of digital wallets Yape and Plin in Peru, which grew from minimal usage in 2019 to 50% of retail transactions by April 2024. Using market share data and a logit demand model, the authors find that key success factors include zero fees, immediate 24/7 fund availability, QR code payments, and interoperability with point-of-sale terminals. The study estimates that a PEN 0.01 fee increase would reduce digital wallet market share by 0.31 percentage points, while removing features like POS payments would decrease usage by 26 percentage points. Consumer welfare per transaction among banked individuals increased by 68% by April 2024 due to digital wallet availability. The paper attributes this success to enablers (telecommunications infrastructure, financial inclusion), catalysts (COVID-19 pandemic), and design features (ease of use, large merchant networks), alongside the Central Bank of Peru’s regulatory push for interoperability between payment systems. [Source: BIS]
Upcoming Speaking Engagements:
The Digital Euro Conference 2026 (Frankfurt, March 26) will explore the future of money with a focus on CBDCs, stablecoins, and commercial bank tokens. This hybrid event offers the perfect platform to understand the future of digital money! [Register here and get 20% off the regular ticket price by using the Kiffmeister20 code!]
I produce a monthly digest of digital fiat currency (DFC) developments exclusively for the official sector (e.g., central banks, ministries of finance and international financial institution (e.g., the BIS, IMF, OECD, World Bank)) plus academics and firms that are active in the DFC space (commercial banks, technology providers, consultants, etc.). (DFCs include central bank digital currency (CBDC), stablecoins and tokenized deposits.) It goes out via email on the first business day of every month, and if you’re interested in being on the mailing list, please email me at john@kiffmeister.com.
