On Christmas eve, the Bank of Thailand held a media briefing in which it announced the postponement of its retail central bank digital currency (CBDC) pilot to late 2022. It had previously set a target of Q2 2022 after it awarded a contract to Germany’s G+D in June.
During the briefing, the bank emphasized what it sees as the four key benefits of a CBDC, including ‘risk-free’ digital money. It believes a digital currency will reduce payment costs by removing intermediaries for P2P payments, and at the same time, it will enable interoperability between different payment systems and service providers. Finally, programmable money will encourage innovation.
The central bank previously stated that it would adopt a two-tier approach, distributing the currency via financial intermediaries. The pilot will target 10,000 consumers.
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