The Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB) has partnered with Barbados-based FinTech company Bitt to conduct a FinTech pilot.
ECCB said it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Bitt to conduct a FinTech pilot on blockchain technology in the ECCB member countries.
During the pilot, the pair will work to develop, deploy and test technology which focuses on data management, compliance and transaction monitoring system for Know Your Customer, Anti-Money Laundering, and Combating the Financing of Terrorism (KYC/AML/CFT).
This will help to improve the risk profile of the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union (ECCU) and mitigate against the trend of de-risking by the region’s correspondent banking partners according to the bank.
It will also focus on developing a secure, resilient digital payment and settlement platform with embedded regional and global compliance; and the issuance of a digital EC currency which will operate alongside physical EC currency.
Governor of the ECCB, Timothy NJ Antoine said, “This fintech pilot is part of the Bank’s Strategic Plan 2017-2021. The aim of the pilot is to ascertain the suitability of blockchain technology to help boost economic growth and competitiveness in the region consistent with the ECCB’s monetary and financial stability objectives.
“Furthermore, as the ECCB promotes the safety and soundness of the financial system in the ECCU, it also has a responsibility to encourage and support innovation consistent with the Bank’s mandate to facilitate the balanced growth and development of member countries. To that end, blockchain technology merits our attention and consideration at this time”.
The agreement is the culmination of a workshop held last week and involved teams from the ECCB and Bitt. As part of the workshop, commercial banks in the ECCU were invited to a special session on the pilot.
Bitt utilises blockchain and distributed ledger technology to facilitate secure peer-to-peer transactions with seamless mobile money. Its white label mobile technology solutions are designed to provide a seamless banking experience and new value to customers, while reducing costs and creating new revenue opportunities for a bank.
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