International agencies are urging central banks to consider interoperability early in the design of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs). The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) Committee on Payments and Market Infrastructures, the BIS Innovation Hub, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank released a report Monday that looked at three options for cross-border interoperability that address challenges including high costs, low speed, limited accessibility and thelack of transparency.
The present publication was a response to a 2020 Committee on Payments and Market Infrastructures report that identified 19 building blocks to enhance cross-border payments. Most work on CBDCs has been focused on domestic policy goals so far, according to the authors. They went on to examine variables such as accessibility by payment service providers (PSPs) and nonresidents to wholesale and retail CBDCs and interaction with non-CBDC infrastructure.