ANZ is partnering with two universities to trial offline CBDC payments via smart cards that can be loaded with funds and used like physical cash.
IN BRIEF:
- ANZ will test the CBDC for offline payments in one of 14 pilot projects to be launched by the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) and the Digital Finance Cooperative Research Centre (DFCRC)
- The ANZ university pilot aims to explore how a CBDC could “address situations where online connectivity is absent” such as major outages, communities that lack the means to connect online or those who are unbanked”
- The pilot will be conducted on campus at Southern Cross University and RMIT University. As part of the pilot, NFC-enabled smart cards pre-loaded with CBDC funds will be given to participating students.
What does this mean?
“The aim is to demonstrate how an organisation like a university can step in and provide immediate financial support through the disbursement of CBDC in emergency situations, such as where students are unable to access funds online or traditional banking services.”, DFCRC explains.
