SICPA Joins the Digital Monetary Institute

SICPA has signed a partnership agreement with the UK’s London-based OMFIF Digital Monetary Institute (DMI), a high-level group formed in May 2020 by OMFIF, the global central banking think tank.

The DMI is designed to convene policy-makers, technologists, financiers and regulators to explore the challenges and opportunities of digital finance. The principal focus will be on payments instruments in wholesale and retail markets, with central bank digital currency (CBDC) being of particular interest. A major survey on trust in monetary institutions found that central banks were the most trusted institutions to issue digital currency.

In 2020, a group of seven central banks, together with the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), agreed on the common principles and features for a “workable CBDC”.  The stage is now set for exploration and design of digital cash by individual countries. No longer a question of “if”, the narrative has already shifted to the “how” and “when” retail CBDC will take its seat at the table alongside other forms of public money.

“As a trusted partner of central banks and after several years of applied research into the requirements for CBDC, we’ve come up with answers that align with generally-agreed principles,” said Kalin Nicolov, Head of Digital Currency, SICPA,

“And as a new member of the DMI, we relish this fresh opportunity to collaborate with partners in the digital currency ecosystem and to ensure an enduring role for money as a trusted public good.”

Members of the DMI include Algorand, Amazon, Giesecke & Devrient Currency Technology, Mastercard, PayPal, Six Digital Exchange and SWIFT.