Digital payments unplugged: the importance of offline payments

Central banks are playing a dynamic role in shaping payments infrastructure and their responsibilities extend to the regulation and facilitation of digital transactions. By incorporating offline functionality, central banks can ensure a more inclusive, reliable and secure financial system, whether through instant payments or central bank digital currencies as part of a larger initiative to strengthen the digital public infrastructure.

Nearly 70% of central bank respondents to OMFIF’s 2023 Future of payments survey identified offline functionality as one of the most challenging features of a CBDC. This implementation will require stakeholders to address a range of technology, security and operational considerations.

OMFIF’s Digital Monetary Institute and Giesecke+Devrient are convening a private roundtable to explore the implications of incorporating offline functionality into instant payment systems and CBDCs. The discussion will delve into the security, design, technical and operational issues that ecosystem players need to tackle. It will also examine the potential advantages of different approaches to implementation and solutions to obstacles.

The roundtable is off the record, held under the Chatham House rule and is for representatives primarily from central banks and multilateral organisations.