The Philippine central bank, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) will launch a wholesale central bank digital currency (CBDC) test to promote the stability of the country's payment system.
CBDC wholesale refers to the settlement of interbank transfers and related wholesale transactions.
Example: payments between financial institutions.
It can include digital or cross -border asset payments.
CBDC wholesale and central bank treasury operate in a similar way.
The project known as ‘CBDCPh’ involves only a few specific financial institutions with the aim of testing its capabilities in large -scale financial transactions at all times.
According to BSP governor Benjamin Dionko, only through wholesale testing can they assess the direction of the project - whether for the medium or long term.
For the record, digital payments records in monthly retail transactions have increased 20.1% by the end of 2020.
Those observations have actually changed, up from a 2018 record 10%.
However the Philippine central bank has warned of a minimum realized value addition for retail CBDCs in the country due to the progress and adoption of existing digital payments.
What many don’t know, the retail CBDC is different from the wholesale CBDC.
For the record, wholesale CBDC access to banks and other financial institutions is very limited.
But CBDC wholesale can reduce the pressures that occur in - 1/ cross -border financial transfers, 2/ equity securities payments, and 3/ intraday liquidity facilities.
Apparently, the country has already focused on CBDC implementation projects since early March.
The Philippines is quietly about to launch CBDC testing. Moving forward, just like China and the Bahamas.
