UK Finance has shared a video explaining how the use of tokenised sterling deposits are the “visionary” next step in the digital finance transformation.
The Great British Tokenised Deposit (GBTD) initiative is a collaborative industry pilot project to deliver the first UK live transactions of tokenised sterling deposits.
The remortgaging process is one of three use cases in the pilot phase, with the aim of improving transparency, speeding up transactions and mitigating conveyancing fraud.
Person-to-person payments and digital asset settlements are also being trialled as part of the pilot.
The short video explains the project and its benefits in non-technical language, with an overview of the opportunities that will be created by the use of tokenised deposits, which are a digital representation of traditional sterling commercial bank money.
Jana Mackintosh, managing director of UK Finance, explained: “This project is a powerful example of industry collaboration to deliver next generation payments for the benefit of customers and businesses – and an opportunity for the UK to lead globally in setting standards for tokenised money.
“Andrew Bailey, governor of the Bank of England, recently called for innovation in how digital technology is applied to the money we use today. That’s exactly what tokenised deposits represent: a secure, regulated evolution of the payments landscape.”
Participating firms in the pilot currently include Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds Banking Group, Monzo, NatWest, Nationwide and Santander. Quant, EY and Linklaters also support the project.
