On 12 February 2023, the Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates (CBUAE) announced the launch of a new initiative called the “Financial Infrastructure Transformation Program”, which has nine main objectives. One of these goals is the research and development of a central bank digital currency (CBDC) designed to handle both cross-border payments and domestic use.
UAE CBDC initiative to address inefficiencies in cross-border payments and promote domestic innovation
The Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates (CBUAE) aims to strengthen the region’s financial infrastructure with a new program, the “Financial Infrastructure Transformation Program” (FIT), which includes nine key initiatives. The FIT is in line with the CBUAE’s mission to “enhance monetary and financial stability” through a “robust financial infrastructure” and the use of digital technologies.
The nine initiatives included in the Financial Infrastructure Transformation Program (FIT) include: a domestic card scheme, eKYC, a central bank digital currency (CBDC), open finance, supervisory technology, an innovation center, an instant payment platform, a financial cloud, and improving the customer experience. CBDC is designed for both cross-border payments and domestic use, with the aim of addressing inefficiencies in cross-border payments and promoting innovation in domestic payments. Full integration of the FIT program is planned for 2026.
“The FIT program embodies the directions and ambitions of our wise leadership to digitize the economy and develop the financial sector. We are proud to build an infrastructure that will support a thriving UAE financial ecosystem and its future growth,” said HE Khaled Mohamed Balama, the Governor of the CBUAE in a statement. “We will work with our partners to implement the program, achieve its goals, accelerate the adoption of digital services in the financial sector and attract the best talent.”
The Financial Infrastructure Transformation Program (FIT) is in line with the vision of HH Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Presidential Court, and Chairman of the Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE). The CBUAE has stated that implementation updates will be provided after each initiative is completed. The aim is to “enhance the UAE’s competitiveness” as a world leader in financial and digital payments. The UAE’s FIT program and CBDC initiative follows the recent CBDC pilot experiment by the Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority (SAMA).
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Jamie Redman
Jamie Redman is the news editor at Bitcoin.com News and a financial technology journalist living in Florida. Redman has been an active member of the cryptocurrency community since 2011. He has a passion for Bitcoin, open source and decentralized applications. Since September 2015, Redman has written more than 6,000 articles for Bitcoin.com News about the disruptive protocols emerging today.
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