The goal of the Digital Pound Foundation’s Payments Working Group is to identify, define and articulate key risks, challenges and benefits arising from the introduction of new forms of digital money, including central bank digital currencies (CBDC), stablecoins, and e-money tokens, and to communicate these effectively to policymakers, regulators, financial markets participants, consumer and industry groups and other participants and stakeholders in the emerging ecosystem of new forms of digital money. It provides a forum where our members can communicate, collaborate and share ideas and practical solutions – from a payments perspective – towards a healthy and diverse ecosystem for new forms of digital money, whilst showcasing their skills and abilities within the sector.
- Identify, define and articulate the key payments, risks, challenges and benefits arising from the creation of new forms of digital money
- Examine the relationships, impact and synergies with existing payment and account infrastructures as well as parallel industry trends/innovations like digital identity, ISO 20022 and Open Finance
- Engage with and support the Bank of England in the practical implementation of a CBDC
- Engage with relevant policymakers, regulatory bodies and other forums to communicate and advocate for the DPF’s policy positions
- Collaborate with other working groups to identify and elaborate payments use cases that bring innovation and value for both commercial and consumer segment
Group Leads
Leading our Payments Working Group is Ainsley Ward, Vice President, Payments Consulting Services at CGI, and Anushil Gupta, Director of Strategy for Retail and Corporate banking at CGI. With more than 20 years of international banking and payments experience, Ainsley Ward is a recognized industry thought leader who oversees business development for CGI’s payment solutions, whilst Anushil brings 15+ years of experience leading focused business advisory to large transformation programmes, such as UK Ring fencing, Payments transparency, ISO 20022 migration and Channel & Data strategy for some of the top global banking groups.
All Digital Pound Foundation members have the opportunity to get involved in the creation of educational materials, thought leadership and resources, as well as an engaging programme of communications, publications and events, that will not only support the wider understanding of new forms of digital money, but help to showcase their knowledge and expertise. If your organisation would like to get involved with the Payments Working Group, or any of our other working groups, we would love to hear from you.
Over the past decade, there has been rapid innovation in how people make payments, and Covid-19 has accelerated these trends. The use of physical cash in payments continues to decline, and demand for convenience, especially with regard to e-commerce, has fuelled public appetite for digital payments.