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Retail CBDC's will not operate correctly until the global wholesale market inefficiencies are resolved. This involves moving to a 24x7x365 digital environment at a wholesale level and then incorporating wholesale CBDC's to eradicate interbank credit risk. Remember, this risk was a key issue in the 2008 Global Financial crisis. 

Benoît is correct in his view and sense of urgency. The work that we are doing underpins the BIS vision where central banks and regulators retain their key role in market supervision and financial stability within an efficient digital environment. This new environment allows commercial banks to benefit from risk reduction and potential improved use of CET1 capital. It also enables customer service levels to be delivered, removing the most frequently asked question in banking, where is the money?

Is a latte-seed equity round closed out in a cofee shop and a further demonstration of hybrid working paractices developing in Canada??

The impact of CBDC's in the wholesale interbank money market is instanteously significant. Had this option existed in 2006, the impacts of the Global Financial Crisis could well have been diminished. 

Agreed, and Christian Schäfer, the single infrastructure network you envisage is already built, where B2B payments run hand in hand with remitances, card acquiring operates with instant merchant settlement. 

This made me smile.

In 1995 when we built Barclaysquare, a JV between us and Barclays I introduced the concept of digital receipts which then became a standard service component for all merchants in the subsequent roll-out of WorldPay. BarclaySquare launched on 1st June 1995 and the front page of the Financial Times headline said "New virtual shops free from fraud". This was true then due to the very low number of internet shoppers. We eventually morphed those receipts in 2001 into the WorldPay Internet Payments guarantee, to protect consumers against fraud and merchants against chargebacks that had developed during those 5 years. 

I am pleased that Miles is helping us tackle financial friction - if you want to see the exact incurred this year, the real-time counter is available on the RTGS.global website. 

ISO 20022 is the start. When you then overlay Atomic settlement it transforms the way every payment transaction is undertaken, from cross-border, domestic payments, and the card schemes. We have tested POS and e-commerce on the RTGS.global network and payments from the customer account to the merchant bank account take less than a minute. This removes financial friction costs, dramatically improves business cashflow ,and uses the FIAT currencies that consumers and businesses already use and understand.

And of course this happened when 3D secure was originally introduced. We need a better solution, and industry collaboration on adoption, before its introduced? 

I think the regulations are very clear regarding client funds and safeguarding, it is the firms and individuals that create the issues. That said a set of regulatory standards, with legal penalties, that could be applied to the auditors who take on any regulated business is long overdue. The auditors are the bridge or conduit between the firm and the regulators, and by making their role responsible under the statute would ensure at the very least that all bank balances and safeguarding funds were accurately identified and reported.  As a very good audit manager once said to me on a potential regulated acquisition, start with the bank statements and work backward...

Stage 1 of the RTGS.global network goes live in the next 2 months and fully embraces ISO 20022. Whilst being the first network to deliver ISO 20022 as a standard globally, it also delivers its participant banks the opportunity to experience the unique benefits of atomic settlement.