Central banks are considering how retail central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) may help support financial inclusion.
While they are
not a magic bullet, central banks see CBDC as a further tool to promote
financial inclusion if this goal features prominently in the design from
the get-go. In particular, central banks are considering design options
around promoting innovation in the two-tiered financial system (eg
allowing for novel non-bank payment service providers), offering a
robust and low-cost public sector technological basis (with novel
interfaces and offline payments), facilitating enrolment and education
(via simplified due diligence and electronic know your customer) and
fostering interoperability (both domestically and across borders).
Together, these features can address a range of existing barriers to
financial inclusion.
This paper draws on interviews with nine central banks with advanced
work on CBDCs and financial inclusion, as well as ongoing research and
policy work at the BIS and World Bank. It gives concrete examples from
the central banks' work and discusses challenges, risks and regulatory
and legal implications. It aims to facilitate peer learning on a key set
of issues around CBDCs and financial inclusion policy faced by
societies around the world.
BIS
© BIS - Bank for International Settlements
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