Swiss bank tests blockchain for instant cross-border payments
UBS Digital Cash set to enhance security and transparency in real-time global transactions across multiple currencies
Swiss bank UBS has achieved a significant milestone with its successful pilot of a blockchain-based cross-border payment solution.
The goal of the payment solution—UBS Digital Cash—is to enhance security and transparency while enabling real-time global payments in multiple currencies.
🏦 💶 Swiss bank UBS pilots blockchain-based UBS Digital Cash, enabling real-time global payments in multiple currencies.
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The pilot involved transactions across various multinational banks and clients and also covered domestic and cross-border payments in currencies such as the US dollar and Euro. The pilot also tested moving funds, or "liquidity transfers" between different UBS branches, showcasing how the platform could improve efficiency within the bank's global operations.
One of the pilot participants was Janko Hahn, the head of treasury operations at Autoneum. He praised UBS Digital Cash for its "key advantages", saying it makes cross-border transactions "faster, on time, and provides seamless traceability, which is a huge benefit when operating in a global market”.
The payment solution operates on a private blockchain network, accessible only to authorized clients. Settlements are executed through digital contracts known as smart contracts, which automatically execute functions when certain conditions are met. This system allows clients to make and track transfers in real time, anytime, on a secure virtual network.
Xiaonan Zou, the head of digital assets at UBS group treasury, said that “we see the interoperability between UBS Digital Cash and other digital cash initiatives as a key for the financial industry”.
This pilot aligns with the bank's broader involvement in blockchain and digital finance initiatives, such as the Bank for International Settlements' Agora project, which explores ways to streamline cross-border payment with tokenized central bank money.
Andy Kollegger, head of UBS Institutional & Multinational Banking, emphasized the importance of this new payment solution, saying, “With the successful UBS Digital Cash pilot, we have reached another important milestone.”
