Conference-goers who visited OCBC's booth display during the Singapore Fintech Festival 2023 were in for a treat: they were the first to get a taste of how the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS)’ central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) could be used for instantaneous interbank settlement. Visitors were able to avail of 5 Digital Singapore Dollars from OCBC, which they were then able to spend at the UOB booth. The Digital Singapore Dollars were issued by OCBC and UOB and are fungible across each other.
Whilst such digital novelties may seem routine to a country where almost 1 in 2 payment transactions are done electronically, the real magic lies behind the scenes: atomic settlement. Institutions– in this case, OCBC and UOB– will no longer need to wait days for the transaction to be settled in the back end. It can happen instantaneously. What enabled OCBC to build up and become a main participant in Singapore’s CBDC ambitions is its expertise in blockchain technology: from a strong in-house team and blockchain platform, to an emphasis on testing and experimentation. Such a setup and culture have enabled the bank to create a range of use cases, such as tokenised assets and blockchain payments, Metaverse, NFTs, and even document version tracking. Source: Singapore Business Review
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