UK Finance is extending its testing of an experimental shared ledger to track banking payments, to make some connections in the rapidly developing world of digital assets. 

This trial phase involves participating banks, such as Barclays, Lloyds Banking Group, and Citigroup, together with card networks, Mastercard, and Visa, according to a report released by UK Finance on Monday, April 15. 

The trial is the most recent phase in developing a workable commercial tokenized deposit and securities system that all banks may use. The objective is to decrease the possibility of error and fraud and to facilitate faster and easier cross-border transactions by recording more assets as tokens on a single, unified blockchain. 

Gilbert Verdian, the chief executive officer of Quant, a company that builds interoperable blockchain networks and supplies the technology for the pilot, said that the most recent pilot began in February. 

Before the technology is used commercially, companies are expected to use the trial platform for two to three years, according to Verdian. August will see the publication of the pilot’s findings. According to him, fintech startups and IT firms will have the opportunity to enroll in the program in July, enabling them to begin developing new products using tokenized commercial bank funds. 

Businesses were eager to test this technology, according to Verdian, before central banks could produce their virtual currency. “Banks now see the necessity of programmable payments. For them, it’s a huge game shift since business models can now function more effectively because the limitations of the current payment system don’t constrain them. 

The pilot is one of several initiatives aiming for the same objective. To better understand how tokenized forms of money, such as digital currencies issued by central banks, might function in real-world situations, the Bank of International Settlements has initiated several experiments in recent years. The most recent of these studies was an international payments pilot involving seven central banks.