The South African Reserve Bank says it doesn’t see a need for a central bank digital currency in the near term, instead saying the country should modernize its payments system. The South African central bank said in a paper released on Thursday that there was no strong immediate need for a retail CBDC, though deploying one was technically feasible.
Existing initiatives, such as a program to modernize the payments system and expand non-bank participation in the national payment system, should remain the priority for now, they said. The central bank will shift its focus toward exploring wholesale CBDC applications and cross-border payment efficiency, while continuing to monitor retail CBDC developments.
The research examined whether a retail CBDC would address gaps in South Africa’s payment system, revealing that challenges persist as roughly 16% of adults remain unbanked. For a CBDC to succeed, it would need to match or exceed the benefits of cash, including offline functionality, universal acceptance, low costs, ease of use, and privacy features.
Read more: https://coinmarketcap.com/academy/article/south-africa-central-bank-sees-no-immediate-cbdc-need
