FIS to launch a Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) Virtual Lab in India and other nations

"With real-time payments increasing, many countries must either modernize outdated payments infrastructure or build entirely new real-time payments networks to move money faster,"  the company said while announcing the launch.

Currently, 72 percent of the world’s population has, or will soon have, access to instant payments, according to the 2022 Worldpay from FIS Global Payments Report.

Many markets are also replacing or renovating their established real-time services, especially those that repurposed their corporate real-time gross settlement (RTGS) services to cater for instant payments, such as Brazil, United Kingdom, Japan, South Africa and Mexico.

Similarly, India and the U.S. are introducing additional competing services that will sit alongside the established schemes.

"As this shift occurs, RealNet Central will accelerate real-time payments adoption by connecting a country’s businesses, consumers, financial institutions and government entities to real-time networks, both domestically and internationally," the Florida-based company said.

The company will also help central banks launch Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDC).

Through FIS’s CBDC Virtual Lab – created in collaboration with M10 Networks (M10) and its high-performance digital money platform – FIS will support countries’ efforts to integrate CBDCs into their economy.

The CBDC Virtual Lab allows central banks, commercial banks and other financial participants to experiment with – and pilot – core concepts of issuance, transfer, redemption, offline payments, programmable payments, retail, wholesale and cross-border payments.

FIS’ CBDC Virtual Lab is enterprise-grade technology that supports over one million transactions per second at less than a second latency.

“The global economy has rapidly shifted toward digital-first mindsets and methods. While the idea of making payments in real-time may sound simple, the reality of delivering on that promise is enormously sophisticated, especially when doing so across borders,” said Aman Cheema, Head of Global Real-Time Payments and CBDCs at FIS.

“Our latest offering sets out to change that, bringing consumers, businesses, financial institutions and governments closer together in the payments ecosystem. The launch of this solution is the latest proof point of FIS’ commitment to invest in innovative technologies and solutions that advance how the world pays.”

FIS has been shortlisted as a finalist on the G20 TechSprint 2022 CBDC challenge to build a prototype using the FIS Virtual Lab to demonstrate secure, resilient and effective CBDC issuance, redemption and transfer, whilst maintaining financial stability and integration with the existing payments landscape.