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Digital pound would not require new POS systems - BofE

Existing point-of-sale terminals in the UK could be used to initiate digital pound payments, according to research from the Bank of England.

3 comments

Digital pound would not require new POS systems - BofE

Editorial

This content has been selected, created and edited by the Finextra editorial team based upon its relevance and interest to our community.

This year, the central bank moved on from the research and exploration phase of its digital pound roadmap to the design phase.

The UK has decided that any future CBDC would need to be useful for everyday in-store payments. The BofE has conducted a feasibility study to see whether existing POS systems could be used for this, eliminating the need for merchants to invest in new hardware.

The study found that existing POS terminals in the UK could, in principle, be used to initiate online digital pound payments.

In addition, the researchers found that it is technically feasible to implement offline payments functionality using existing POS terminals but that machines would require modification.

This is because the functionality might require that an offline payments application be deployed to those terminals in order to store offline balances.

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Comments: (3)

A Finextra member 

So the digital pound will have no effect on how we buy at POS - same process, same customer experience just a different source of funds.

Nothing new, nothing different, no innovation - what's the point of it?

In Asia, millions of micromerchants have adopted mobile payments in multipe countries which give them immediate finality of funds. Previously, they had neither the resources or need/demand to accept payments through card POS systems, just cash.

That is innovation - sorely missing in the UK payments industry and the institutions that control it.   

A Finextra member 

Much agreed. The advancment of Asia also facilitates their emergence towards economical freedom hence BRICS. The UK and US drags the proverbial foot as they can but only for so long. Time is truth.

Marite Ferrero Director at Lumiere LTD

I looked at what problem the BofE is trying to solve with the Digital pound. Only thing I can find is this: "The Bank and the Government would not have access to any personal data and users would have freedom in how they spent their digital pounds." 

Currently a person can buy a prepaid card in the UK that can be used in POS's. In general, the person buying needs to provide an ID (to deter money laundering). So if the raison d'etre of a Digital pound is to give users Privacy and freedom in how they spend their Digital pounds, wouldn't this then be opening users to money laundering? If BofE wants to give this, then why just not loosen the rules around the purchasing and usage of prepaid cards? I believe prepaid cards are digitised already. So, problem solved.

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