Bank Of England: Minutes Of The CBDC Technology Forum - March 2023 - Sixth Meeting Of The CBDC Technology Forum

Item 1: Welcome

Tom Mutton (Chair) welcomed Members to the sixth meeting of the CBDC Technology Forum.

Item 2: The digital pound Consultation Paper and Technology Working Paper

The Bank of England presented a summary of the Consultation Paper and the accompanying Technology Working Paper, published on 7 February 2023. The presentation covered the proposed distribution model, technology design considerations and conceptual architecture for a UK CBDC, called the digital pound.

Forum Members welcomed the publication of the papers, expressing interest in the proposed technical requirements and metrics. In particular, Members were interested in exploring the privacy, resilience and performance requirements set out in the Technology Working Paper.

Members also welcomed the proposal that a digital pound would be a platform for innovation. Some Members noted that the Bank should consider providing the necessary incentives to promote innovation, alongside the structure to facilitate it. Other Members discussed the importance of uniformity of money in the context of innovation. Some noted that with innovative offerings, like programmability features, it is essential to ensure that users have a common experience across PIPs.

Members also discussed interoperability with other systems, such as bank accounts and other CBDCs. Some Members highlighted the need to enable industry players to plug into the Bank of England’s API to interoperate with the digital pound system. One Member considered the potential for broader use of the API – which would see it being open for industry-wide use, across other payment systems, rather than solely an interface to the digital pound ledger.

Members also noted some aspects of the digital pound which were important to consider in further work. These included financial inclusion, tiered wallets and anti-money laundering (AML).

Item 3: Engagement in the next phase of work on the digital pound

The Bank of England explained that work in the design phase would be more detailed, with a strong focus on exploring the operational and technical challenges of a digital pound. The Forum Chair sought feedback from Members on an approach to future engagement.

There was support for the idea of creating sub-groups, which would look to consider specific architecture for of the digital pound.

Closing remarks

The Chair closed the meeting and thanked the Members for their contributions.