The Bank of Thailand (BOT) has recently announced a project to develop the prototype of the payment system for businesses using Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC), which will build upon knowledge from Project Inthanon.

According to a recent release issued by BOT, the project scope will include conducting a feasibility study and developing a process to integrate CBDC with the business’ innovative platform.

BOT recognizes and supports the important roles of financial innovation and technology in enhancing the competitiveness and readiness of the business sector entering the digital age. The project marks an important step in broadening CBDC’s scope and adoption to wider audiences, starting with large corporates.

In this project, the CBDC prototype will be integrated with the procurement and financial management systems of the Siam Cement Public Company Limited and its suppliers developed by Digital Ventures Company Limited.

The prototype is expected to serve as a financial innovation that enables higher payment efficiency for businesses such as increasing flexibility for fund transfers or delivering faster and more agile payments between suppliers.

The project will begin in July 2020 and is expected to conclude by the end of the year, after which BOT will publish the project summary and outcome accordingly.

In addition, Project Inthanon, the collaborative project between BOT and the eight leading financial institutions to study and develop the proof-of-concept for domestic wholesale funds transfer using wholesale CBDC, has been accomplished in January 2020, with the successful completion of the cross-border transfer prototype co-developed with the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA).

In the next step, BOT, HKMA, and the participating financial institutions will continue to collaborate and experiment CBDC for other use cases in cross-border transfers, which BOT will later announce in detail.

BOT strongly believes that continuous collaboration and development in financial innovation with the business sector would lay foundation in building technological capacity and readiness for financial services and businesses rapidly entering the digital age. Moreover, BOT remains open to private sector engagements to further promote innovation and explore potential use cases for future adoption.