Swiss banking giant UBS has successfully completed a pilot of its blockchain-based payment system, UBS Digital Cash, aimed at improving the efficiency of cross-border transactions.
The multinational investment bank announced the achievement on November 7, highlighting that the trial involved both domestic payments within Switzerland and international transactions in multiple currencies, including U.S. dollars, Swiss francs, euros, and Chinese yuan.
The UBS Digital Cash system operates on a private blockchain network, exclusively accessible to permissioned clients. It utilizes smart contracts to automatically execute transactions once predefined conditions are met, ensuring smoother and faster payments across borders.
Andy Kollegger, the bank’s Head of Institutional & Multinational Banking, highlighted UBS Digital Cash’s potential to transform cross-border payments. He noted, “UBS Digital Cash going forward aims to enable our clients to make cross-border payments in a much more efficient and transparent way.”
Kollegger underscored that blockchain-based solutions are a strategic priority for UBS, and the pilot’s success marks a significant step toward this vision.
According to the announcement, the pilot project aligns with UBS’s broader efforts in the digital asset space. UBS has already participated in notable projects, such as the Swiss National Bank’s Helvetia initiative, which explores a wholesale Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) for Swiss francs, and the Agorá project led by the Bank for International Settlements.
The success of UBS Digital Cash also follows UBS’s recent foray into tokenized investments. The bank launched a tokenized money market fund, the UBS USD Money Market Investment Fund Token, on the Ethereum blockchain, specifically aimed at distribution partners in Singapore.
UBS is not the only major Swiss bank that is embracing cryptocurrency and blockchain technology. Zurich Cantonal Bank (ZKB) recently launched cryptocurrency services for its customers. Notably, the services allow around-the-clock trading for Bitcoin and Ethereum and are fully integrated into the bank’s digital platforms, ZKB eBanking and ZKB Mobile Banking.
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