Switzerland’s Amina Bank and Deutsche Börse subsidiary Crypto Finance Group have completed a pilot programme on the Google Cloud Universal Ledger (GCUL) platform to demonstrate the use of DLT in payment infrastructure.
Serving as currency operator, Crypto Finance ensured that transaction rules were clearly defined, enforced agreed processes on GCUL, and facilitated the onboarding of participating banks. The participating institutions, including Amina Bank, embedded the technology in their core banking stacks.
Crypto Finance states in a press release that the pilot “lays the groundwork in addressing critical inefficiencies in current global payment systems”. It used DLT for the underlying infrastructure while maintaining wholesale commercial bank money, proving that “payment modernisation can be achieved without creating new forms of digital currency or disrupting existing regulatory frameworks”. Participating institutions experienced near-real-time, 24/7 settlement of transactions in fiat currency while keeping to the security and compliance standards of traditional banking.
The next phase of the pilot will involve scaling the platform by onboarding additional financial institutions and progressing from controlled testing to live operations. The eventual goal is to introduce capabliities such as cross-border payments and point-of-sale integrations for consumers.
