BIS Innovation Hub Launches Project Agorá To Revamp Cross-Border Payments

According to Odaily, the Innovation Hub of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) has launched Project Agorá. This initiative is a collaboration with seven central banks and aims to transform cross-border payments through tokenization technology. The project utilizes wholesale central bank digital currency (wCBDC) and tokenized deposits to execute payments on a unified ledger, simplifying the compliance process. Tokenization enables atomic settlement, meaning payments are reflected simultaneously in all banks' balances. This technology also simplifies Know Your Customer (KYC) and Anti-Money Laundering (AML) procedures. In addition to Project Agorá, BIS is experimenting with shared protocols in Project Mandala, offering 'proof of compliance' and suggesting the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to establish AML monitoring models. BIS emphasizes that the next generation of correspondent banking should be inclusive, accessible, and capable of capturing network effects. This project is a significant step towards achieving these goals, and it is expected to bring about considerable changes in the banking sector.