Singapore MAS proposes digital money standards with major industry players

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) released a proposal for a common protocol that would specify the conditions for the use of different types of digital currencies.

MAS on 21st June published A whitepaper that includes technical specifications outlining the lifecycle of its new Purpose Bound Money (PBM) concept, along with the names of financial institutions and fintech firms that plan to pilot PBMs.

PBMs plan to enable senders of digital currencies in various systems, such as central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) or stable coins, to be able to specify the terms of digital currency transactions, including validity periods and types of outlets.

Mr. Sopendu Mohanty, Chief Fintech Officer, MAS, commented that these recent developments magnify the role of digital currencies in the future financial landscape.

“This collaboration between industry players and policy makers has helped achieve significant advances in settlement efficiency, merchant acquisition and user experience with digital money access.”

The paper was developed in collaboration with the International Monetary Fund, Banca d’Italia and Bank of Korea, among other financial institutions. Fintech firms implementing testing for PBMs include Amazon, DBS and fintech firm Grab.

Amazon will test an escrow-like arrangement specifically for online retail payments. It will receive payment to the merchant only when the customer receives the purchased items.

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Additionally, the white paper encourages central banks, financial institutions and fintech companies to further research the use cases of digital money.

This comes as Singapore continues to embrace crypto-related businesses and activities. On June 7, USDC stablecoin provider Circle joined other major payment institutions to obtain a license in Singapore.

A few days ago, Crypto.com also received its license from MAS for digital payment token services.

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