TCS launches solution to help central banks in use of digital currencies

As major central banks work towards roll-outs of digital currencies, India's largest software exporter TCS on Tuesday announced a solution which will aid in their roll-outs and usage.

The Tata Group company has enhanced its blockchain solutions platform Quartz to enable central and commercial banks to support the entire lifecycle of Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) issuance, book-keeping and transactions.

The company's president for banking, financial services and insurance products and platforms, Vivekanand Ramgopal told PTI that having the capability was fundamental to TCS, which counts on the BFSI (Banking, Financial Services and Insurance) segment as its largest business vertical.

Without giving a size of the opportunity, Ramgopal said having the CBDC solution is "incredibly important" strategically and added that it is already working with multiple stakeholders in the system.

The company feels a wholesale CBDC has clear advantages over the retail one and may be the first one to be introduced by many countries, Ramgopal said.

The Reserve Bank of India, which is mandated to launch the CBDC in FY23, is also mulling to introduce the wholesale CBDC first because of the advantages.

Ramgopal said we should expect a few countries to make progress and launch their CBDCs in 2023, and added that the lag between the wholesale and retail will not be too long.

The TCS solution can support both wholesale and retail use cases, he said, stressing that there will be a very fast adoption of CBDC once it is launched.

The solution will conform to all the regulations on privacy, Ramgopal said, adding that it is possible to "consciously programme" it for anonymity, especially for small value transactions.