- The Riksbank, which is Sweden’s central bank, has moved its ‘e-krona’ project in conjunction with Accenture to the next – and third – phase of its development, which will see payment process experiments with mobile phone apps take place.
- It is believed that ‘simulated users’ will be created during this part of the testing.
- The e-krona project is understood to be supported by the Riksbank as part of a long-term vision, though the central bank is also endorsing the status quo of heavy cash usage.
Sweden’s central bank has announced that its ‘e-krona’ digital currency project will now move to the next stage of development thanks to a collaboration with Accenture.
The Riksbank said that its e-krona plans were now in their third phase.
This phase of the project is being run in conjunction with Accenture, a leading global technology company.
The plan for this phase is to experiment with the e-krona’s capacity for online money transfers and similar payments.
Accenture and the Riksbank will experiment with deposit services as well as cash transfer and payment functions.
Press reports suggest that the trials will see ‘simulated users’ created for the purposes of trialling the system.
A mobile phone app will also be used to practice the process of taking out cash.
One press report provided some further contextual information around the e-krona project.
The Swedish central bank is understood to have thrown its weight behind keeping traditional fiat currency in use.
However, it has also acted pragmatically to respond to the growing demand for mobile and online payments, it is believed.
The development comes against a backdrop of increased pushes by Scandinavian financial services firms to offer new payment innovations to customers.
The Riksbank is understood to have taken a long-term view of the situation, believing that the service may eventually become useful if Sweden does take a primarily cashless route in future.
The bank is believed to be working alongside a range of other international central banks in order to work out how the institutions can respond to the demand for a centralised digital currency.
It is understood that the Riksbank is working with global institutions such as the Bank of Japan and the European Central Bank.
Cecilia Skingsley, who is the deputy governor at the bank, said that it was understandable why so many central banks were exploring this as a potential avenue to go down.
“A central bank digital currency can be viewed as a natural development of the central banks’ existing responsibility, given the rapid digitisation of society,” she argued.
She went on to say that there was broad support for the move among the other global central banks.
“The central banks in this cooperation share a common view of the core principles that need to guide us regarding CBDCs,” she continued.
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