French and Swiss central banks to trial wholesale digital currencies – Reuters

French and Swiss central banks to trial wholesale digital currencies – Reuters

The Swiss National Bank and the Bank of France will trial Europe's first cross-border central bank digital currency payments, the banks said on Thursday, a move that will be a first for two of the world's top currencies.

The experiment will focus on the bank-to-bank 'wholesale' lending market rather than everyday public transactions but will be the first time a digital euro and Swiss franc have been fully tested.

Switzerland's UBS (UBSG.S), Credit Suisse (CSGN.S) and France's Natixis (CNAT.PA) are involved in the project, along with Swiss bourse operator SIX Digital Exchange, fintech firm R3 and the Innovation Hub at the Bank for International Settlements.