Reserve Bank of Australia selects 14 CBDC use cases

Brad Jones, assistant governor at the RBA, said the Aussie central bank is delighted by the composition of providers that have been invited to participate in the pilot. As the representative noted, it has also been encouraging that the use case providers that have been invited to participate in the pilot span a wide range of entities in the Australian financial system, from smaller fintechs to large financial institutions.

According to Jones, the pilot as well as the more comprehensive study will be conducted in parallel to serve two purposes. The first of these ends is helping the industry gain some hands-on learning experience. Bolstering policymakers’ understanding of how a CBDC could potentially benefit the Australian financial system and economy.

For his part, Dilip Rao, a CBDC program director with the Digital Finance Cooperative Research Centre (DFCRC), said the process of validating use cases with industry participants and regulators is important because it will likely inform further research into design considerations for a CBDC that could potentially play a role in a tokenised economy.

Meanwhile, some of the use cases chosen by the RBA include offline payments, corporate bond payments, and funds custody. As shown by the statement, the RBA has chosen 14 use cases and more than eight chosen providers.

One step at a time

Back in September 2022 the Reserve Bank of Australia announced plans to identify business models and uses for a central bank digital currency, or eAUD. At that time the bank announced it was likely to conduct a pilot early in 2023.

As reports described it then, the project, which began in July 2022, strives for the understanding of some of the technological, legal, and regulatory considerations associated with a CBDC. The findings are set to be published at the conclusion of the project in around mid-2023. However, the research implies no commitment from the RBA to issue a CBDC.

The RBA was seeking submissions from industry participants ranging from financial institutions, fintechs, public sector agencies and technology providers. It was also engaging with regulators to work through any regulatory implications. Pilot participants were prompted to bear their own costs for the conception, design, development, implementation, and piloting, if selected.

It all started in August

In August of 2022 the bank started collaborating with the Digital Finance Cooperative Research Centre (DFCRC) on a research project to explore use cases for a central bank digital currency. The partnership with the DFCRC wanted to address this gap by focusing on innovative use cases and business models that could be supported by the issuance of a CBDC in the country.

Right from the start, the Australian Treasury is participating as a member of the steering committee for the project, as part of its joint work with the Reserve Bank on exploring the viability of a CBDC in Australia.