BoE: DLT PoC on RTGS
How’s that for alphabet soup? The Bank of England (BoE) has completed a Proof of Concept (PoC) to understand how a renewed Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) service could support settlements in systems operating through innovative payment technologies. In March, the Bank announced that it was running a POC in this field. The purpose was to understand ways that the RTGS service might take advantage of new approaches using Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT). The outcome of that PoC has now been summarised here.
Based on the feedback from the POC, the Bank’s wider RTGS Renewal Programme will consider how different account structures, including a single-account structure, could be used in the RTGS service. The Bank will also investigate whether the renewed service can provide and consume acceptable forms of cryptographic proofs. Moreover, the Programme will continue to engage with Fintech firms throughout the life of the programme in order to maintain an understanding of how new technological developments and approaches to payment systems will change the demands on RTGS. We wouldn’t characterise these steps as a ringing endorsement of alternative approaches, but in an area as important as the payments system, an abundance of caution is extremely important!
