DBS, OCBC and UOB are embracing blockchain to prepare for a future of digital money
The three local banks are investing money in blockchain technology to prepare for a future of digital finance.
The Straits Times examines which areas of digital currency and cross-border payments DBS, OCBC and UOB are focusing on.
Project Ubin:
Launched in 2016 and involving OCBC and UOB, the project was an industry initiative to explore the uses of blockchain technology for the settlement and settlement of payments and securities.
In 2021, DBS, Temasek, JP Morgan and Standard Chartered Bank founded Partior, an open blockchain-based platform that enables faster and more secure cross-border transfers of value.
Project Orchid:
In the first phase of the project, Grab, UOB and Fazz tested the use of dedicated money (PBM) for programmable rewards.
In November 2022, DBS and GovTech piloted the use of PBM for payouts to select individuals. Participants used RedeemSG vouchers at selected food and beverage stores.
OCBC and the Central Provident Fund Board in 2022 tested the use of PBM to disburse funds from government agencies without requiring recipients to have a bank account.
In the second phase, DBS, HSBC and Amazon are looking at coding the payout terms for tokenized liabilities to meet sellers’ financing needs.
DBS is also working with Enterprise SG and the Singapore Fintech Association to test the use of PBM for smoother and more efficient disbursement of grant funds.
OCBC and UOB are moving their Singdollar digital fungibility trial to an open environment. This comes after they successfully tested whether it is possible to have tokens issued by one bank accepted by another bank in a closed retail payment environment.
UOB is also involved in the Singapore Pitstop Pack and the SkillsFuture Singapore PBM prototype, where the bank has developed features to tokenize the Singdollar to facilitate on-ramp and off-ramp transactions.
Project Guardian:
The first pilot was announced in May 2022 led by DBS, JP Morgan and Marketnode. It explored potential decentralized finance applications in wholesale finance markets. Marketnode, backed by Singapore Exchange (SGX) Group and state investor Temasek, is a digital markets infrastructure operator.
In November 2022, DBS, JP Morgan and SBI Digital Asset Holdings tested for the first time foreign exchange and government bond transactions using liquidity pools that included tokenized Singapore government bonds, Japanese government bonds, Japanese yen and Singapore dollars.
In November 2023, DBS, SBI and UBS launched the world’s first live repurchase transaction, also commonly known as a repo, with a natively issued digital bond on a public blockchain.
In the same month, BNY Mellon and OCBC announced that they would test a cross-border foreign exchange payment product to enable secure payments across multi-origin networks.
UOB is currently focusing on a wealth management product pilot and is considering several more.
Other:
In June 2021, UOB piloted a digital bond issuance on Marketnode’s platform, becoming the first financial institution in Singapore to tokenize a capital security.
In October 2021, UOB and digital securities exchange ADDX completed the digitization and digital custody of the first sustainability-related digital bond launched by Sembcorp Industries.
In December 2021, OCBC conducted a $100 million commercial paper offering – the first transaction on Marketnode’s platform.
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