UBS has successfully tested its blockchain-based payment system to improve the efficiency of cross-border transactions.
Multinational investment giant UBS has completed a pilot of its blockchain-based payment system called ‘UBS Digital Cash’, aimed at improving the efficiency of cross-border transactions.
In a Nov. 7 press release, the Zurich-headquartered bank said the trial, involving multinational clients and banks, included domestic payments within Switzerland as well as cross-border transactions in U.S. dollars, Swiss francs, euros and Chinese yuan.
The system uses a private blockchain network called ‘UBD Digital Cash’, which is only accessible to authorized customers, with transactions settled via smart contracts that are automatically executed once pre-defined conditions are met.
“Blockchain-based payment solutions for cross-border payments are a strategic focus for UBS.”
Andy Kollegger, Head of UBS Institutional & Multinational Banking
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Commenting on the milestone, UBS Head of Digital Assets Xiaonan Zou said the bank sees the interoperability between UBS Digital Cash and other digital cash initiatives as “key for the financial sector”. The latest initiative complements UBS’s involvement in a wide range of market initiatives, the bank says, citing the Swiss National Bank-led project Helvetia for real wholesale Swiss franc Central Bank Digital Currency, as well as the Agorá project, led by the Bank for International Settlements.
The pilot comes shortly after UBS launched its first tokenized investment fund on Ethereum, the UBS USD Money Market Investment Fund Token, aimed at authorized distribution partners in Singapore.
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