24 April 2023

Central Bank Digital Currencies and International Payments

Read about what counts as a central bank digital currency (CBDC), and the nature of the CBDC opportunity in international payments.

Central banks worldwide are examining closely the new digital monetary technologies with many of them considering launching their own central bank digital currencies (CBDC). A few have already implemented forms of CBDC that can be used as alternatives to central bank notes in daily payments, many more have initiated projects assessing the feasibility of creating their own digital currency and are publishing interim research and policy papers on what this would entail.

This SWIFT Institute commissioned research paper, authored by Chusu He, Alistair Milne and Markos Zachariadis reports an investigation into the business processes employed in the execution of international payments and discusses how international payments might be improved through the adoption of central bank digital currencies (CBDC).

Opening with a discussion on the business and policy context, to include CBDC design choices, the authors dive into the processes involved in international payments and look at the frictions behind the industry focus on reducing costs, and increasing speed and transparency. The paper proceeds to explore the impact of CBDC on four different international payment scenarios before examining the use of CBDC to redesign international payments architecture.

 

Read the key highlights

 

by Alistair Milne, Chusu He, Markos Zachariadis

Institution(s):
  • Loughborough University
  • Manchester Business School