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The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) outlined a five-year digitalization plan to modernize the country's domestic payment landscape. The CBK says it will work to define standards for API development and mandate data portability with hopes that more options and innovative solutions will be made available for users in Kenya to choose from. These standards will include API specifications for identification, verification and authentication; customer account information/data access; transaction initiation; and formats and coding languages for APIs. https://www.centralbank.go.ke/2020/12/23/invitation-for-public-comments-on-the-draft-kenya-national-payments-system-vision-and-strategy-2021-2025/

DCash, the digital version of the Eastern Caribbean dollar will soon be available. This video provides more detail. See also the DCash landing page on the EC Central Bank (ECCB) website. https://www.eccb-centralbank.org/p/what-you-should-know-1

The Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates (CBUAE) issued new guidance concerning anti-money laundering (AML) and countering financing of terrorism (CFT) measures for crypto businesses on May 31, 2023. It outlines the risks arising from dealing with virtual asset and virtual asset service providers (VASPs), taking into account the recommendations of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). The new rules will come into effect in one month. https://www.centralbank.ae/media/avwlktgy/cbuae-guidance-for-lfis-on-risks-related-to-virtual-assets-and-virtual-assets-providers_final-clean-version1.pdf

The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) does not consider the issuance of a central bank digital currency (CBDC) a "compelling priority in the short to medium term" but it will continue monitoring developments in the area to inform future assessments of the need for CBDC in Kenya . In February 2022, the CBK issued a consultative paper on CBDC and the comments have been compiled into a new discussion paper. It also provides an update on key global CBDC developments since February 2022, concluding that "the allure of CBDCs is fading". https://www.centralbank.go.ke/uploads/press_releases/103592893_Press%20Release%20-%20Issuance%20of%20Discussion%20Paper%20on%20Central%20Bank%20Digital%20Currency%20-%20Comments%20from%20the%20Public.pdf

The Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is planning to issue a central bank digital currency (CBDC) for domestic and cross-border payments in order to help drive innovation for domestic payments, and address the problems and inefficiency of cross-border payments and respectively. The issuance of a digital dirham is one of nine initiatives of the central bank's Financial Infrastructure Transformation Program. https://www.centralbank.ae/media/mdupathy/cbuae-launches-a-financial-infrastructure-transformation-programme-to-accelerate-the-digital-transformation-of-the-financial-services-sector-en.pdf

The Central Bank of Kenya published a discussion paper seeking public input on the potential benefits, risks and regulatory issues of introducing a central bank digital currency (CBDC) in Kenya. The paper seems skeptical regarding domestic use cases, given that the country already has a vibrant digital payments ecosystem. However, the paper highlights that using a CBDC might improve cross-border payments by making them more efficient and less expensive. https://www.centralbank.go.ke/2022/02/10/discussion-paper-on-central-bank-digital-currency/

In the first quarter of 2023, the Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates (CBUAE) will start phasing in an Instant Payment Platform with a pilot group of licensed financial institutions. The initiative will enable payments processing and fund transfers in the UAE both around the clock and in real time. The new platform will enable the provision of the next generation of payment services to UAE financial institutions and consumers. https://www.centralbank.ae/media/muuenquk/cbuae-fosters-transformation-and-digitalisation-in-dialogue-with-financial-industry-officials_en.pdf

The Bank of Jamaica (BOJ) is reportedly working to upgrade user-facing payment infrastructure to ramp up acceptance of its JAM-DEX central bank digital currency (CBDC). That will include funding the upgrade 10,000 of the more modern point-of-sale (POS) machines to support the JAM-DEX QR codes. Once the upgrades are done, the BOJ will relaunch its JAM-DEX marketing campaign to hopefully jump-start the underwhelming reception so far. However, the POS upgrades will still leave over 40,000 older machines that are not upgradable. https://www.centralbanking.com/benchmarking/financial-stability/7960528/richard-byles-on-jamaicas-inflation-targeting-baptism-of-fire

The Bahamas CBDC pilot is scheduled to be introduced in the remote Exuma district in 2020. The central bank is currently finalising the contractual onboarding of its chosen technology solutions provider, NZIA. Be cause the CBDC aims to complement and not replace existing banking services, the currency will not be interest-bearing. However, users may be able to invest in government securities via the CBDC wallet.

Sveriges Riksbank published positive feedback from 20 Swedish institutions and organizations on its 2nd e-krona report, including from the Finansinspektionen, the National Debt Office and the national tax agency. However, most entities called for a government inquiry; something the central bank has requested.

The Reserve Bank of India is drawing on new technology to support its supervision as it looks to keep up with the proliferation of fintech firms in the country, governor Shaktikanta Das said in recent remarks.

"The Monetary Authority of Singapore has started using an advanced data science tool named Apollo to help enforcement officers detect misconduct in financial markets, the central bank said in its inaugural enforcement report."

In Kenya, formal financial inclusion has risen to 83% from 27% in 2006, while complete exclusion has narrowed to 11% from 41%. Also, the disparities in financial access between rich and poor, men and women, and rural and urban areas also declined remarkably.

So far, most central banks remain a long way from issuing CBDC of any kind. But given that technology has been progressing fast in the settlement and payment areas, as well as DLT, it is possible central banks may increase their interest in retail and wholesale CBDC proposals based on DLT and consider actual implementation seriously in the near future.

The ECCB CBDC pilot involves a digital version of the EC dollar (DXCD) distributed by licensed ECCU financial institutions. The DXCD will be used for transactions between consumers and merchants, between people, all using smart devices. IBM Hyperledger Fabric was selected as the blockchain platform.

Cash might not be authorised as a means of payment were it introduced in today's environment, some central bankers said on March 13.

The Bank for International Settlements is launching an "innovation hub" as part of a broader medium-term strategy.

In April, the GFIN global sandbox jointly run by 35 international regulators accepted its first eight firms into the program. The UK FCA said 44 applications were submitted. The eight successful firms will now develop plans for their cross-border trials, before being allowed to undertake tests. The firms that have successfully entered the testing stage will be announced in June.

The Bank of Thailand and its private-sector partners have developed their first prototype for a blockchain-based system to enable digital currency for interbank settlements between the BoT and eight commercial banks.

The National Bank of Ukraine has released a report on issuing its own central bank digital currency, based on a pilot scheme for the 'e-hryvnia' which was completed in February.