As the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) mulls the idea of introducing a central bank digital currency (CBDC), it's far from alone in thinking about

The nuts and bolts of how central bank digital currencies might operate and what they might mean

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2021-07-08 23:00:08

As the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) mulls the idea of introducing a central bank digital currency (CBDC), it's far from alone in thinking about what this could mean.

From the likes of Swift and Accenture, to the Bank for International Settlements, the Bank of England, Fitch and Bernstein, people all around the world are committing time and money to the topic.

Speaking at a press conference earlier this month, Christian Hawkesby, Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) Assistant Governor and General Manager of Economics, Financial Markets and Banking, said the RBNZ is among dozens of central banks actively researching CBDCs.

"We have a money and cash department which is in part dedicated to thinking about things like that. So we're working on it and we're planning to say more about it through the course of this year," Hawkesby said.

Many other central banks are further down the CBDC path, as demonstrated by the chart below taken from a report by Swift and Accenture looking at the potential impact of CBDCs on international payments.