Winning trio of MAS' retail CBDC competition unveiled

A TOKEN-BASED solution that lets consumers transact using their smart devices - even without bank accounts - and devised by a company that has its roots in the paper-money business, is one of three winners in an international CBDC (central bank digital currency) competition organised by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS).

G+D Filia, a submission by German corporate Giesecke+Devrient advance52, enables central banks to issue digital currency that can be programmed with smart features. Filia works both on smartphones and hardware wallets, and can provide privacy at the payment layer.

To do that, it does not record account balances or transaction metadata on a blockchain, but only the validity of a particular token together with its denomination.

Parent company Giesecke+Devrient, which built its core business from supplying bank notes, said on its website that it is conducting a pilot project with "a major central bank" using its CBDC solution.

Another winner in the Global CBDC Challenge was CBDCgo, a proposal by Visa and blockchain tech company ConsenSys, which integrates existing systems so that users can spend CBDCs without needing to change their payment or acceptance network.

The third winner was Atomic CBDC Solution by French advertising firm Criteo. This digital currency platform supports anonymity and privacy for small transactions, while offering traceability for large transactions to root out attempts at money laundering and terrorism financing.

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Each of the three winners received S$50,000 in cash.

The trio were selected from among 15 finalists after five months of competition. This maiden edition of the challenge attracted more than 300 entries from 50 countries.

MAS organised the challenge in partnership with global organisations such as the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, among others.

Following this competition, MAS will embark on Project Orchid, which builds on the findings from the challenge to establish the technology infrastructure and capabilities to build a retail CBDC system. This involves working with financial institutions to study how a retail CBDC can be implemented in Singapore to "maximise its utility in society and complement existing payment rails", the MAS said in a statement on Thursday.

"This can help lay the foundation for future decisions on retail CBDC issuance," it said.

MAS chief Ravi Menon said on Tuesday that there are presently neither strong reasons for or against a retail CBDC in Singapore. Nonetheless, the MAS will work with industry partners to equip itself with competencies to issue a digital Singapore dollar, should it decide to do so in the future, he had said.

Read more:

• MAS neutral to a digital Singdollar for now, but prepping for future potential

• MAS tests central bank digital currencies with global counterparts