Visa Successfully Concludes CBDC Pilot Program in Hong Kong with HSBC and Hang Seng Bank Visa, a global leader in payments technology,
has announced the successful completion of a pilot test of tokenized deposits using central bank digital currencies (CBDCs). On November 1, Visa announced that it had completed the Hong Kong Monetary Authority’s CBDC pilot program with leading financial institutions, HSBC and Hang Seng Bank, as part of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority’s (HKMA)
“Digital Hong Kong Dollar” pilot program.
This pilot was part of the
“Digital Hong Kong Dollar” program organized by the HKMA, which was initiated earlier this year in May and was the first use case globally to utilize tokenized deposits
for interbank B2B self-transactions and cross-chain transactions.
T
he pilot focused on interbank business-to-business (B2B) payment processes, including property payments and settlements
between payment institutions and merchants. The test demonstrated the potential benefits
of B2B payment tokenization, including increased payment speed, improved settlement risk management and control, enhanced payment network resilience, and greater transaction transparency. During the pilot,
Visa’s platform operated 24/7, outperforming traditional payment systems that often have limitations on operating hours. The tokenized deposits were transacted using encryption,
ensuring privacy and security. They could be viewed on blockchain explorers but didn’t reveal
the identity of participants, balances, or transaction amounts to non-bank users.
