Visa has completed the e-HKD Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) Pilot Programme with HSBC and Hang Seng Bank for the Hong Kong Monetary Authority.
According to an announcement made on November 1, the e-HKD Programme involves the tokenization of deposits, in which the money entrusted with a bank is minted on the firm’s blockchain ledger, backed by its balance sheet. Visa, as part of its main findings, wrote:Â
“The time to final settlement for an interbank transfer, as confirmed through our pilot’s testing between the banks, was near real-time. Tokenized deposits were burned on the sending bank’s ledger, minted on the receiving bank’s ledger, and simultaneously settled interbank via the simulated wholesale CBDC layer.”
In addition, Visa stated during the pilot that its platform could function 24 hours a day, seven days a week, outperforming traditional payment systems that were inoperable on nights and weekends.
“Our testing was completed using blockchain networks that were available globally and supported by teams in other time zones,” according to the company.
In the meantime, tokenized deposits were transacted via encryption, allowing them to be viewed on blockchain explorers without disclosing participants’ identities, balances, or transaction amounts to non-bank users.
For the following stages, the payment processor says it’s exploring tokenized asset markets and programmable finance.
For example, in this pilot’s “Property Payments” use case, the payment from a buyer transferring the remaining balance tokens to the property developer may be automated upon reaching the completion date of the contract, minimizing lag time in the closure of the process,” Visa reported. The e-HKD Pilot Programme will enter phase two after completing phase one.Â
