AMINA Bank and Crypto Finance Group, together with other banking partners, have completed a pilot programme demonstrating how distributed ledger technology (DLT) can support cross-border, cross-currency, and point-of-sale payments.
Conducted on the Google Cloud Universal Ledger (GCUL) platform, the pilot allowed near-real-time, 24/7 settlement of transactions in fiat currency between Swiss-regulated financial institutions while maintaining standard banking security and compliance.
The pilot addresses inefficiencies in current global payment systems, where cross-border transactions often take several days and incur significant costs.
The project uses DLT as the infrastructure while retaining commercial bank money, showing that banks can modernise payments without introducing new digital currencies or breaching regulatory frameworks.
Franz Bergmueller, CEO of AMINA Bank, said:
“With this pilot, we enabled near-real-time, compliant settlements within the existing banking framework. AMINA’s global reach and existing network of institutional partners makes us uniquely positioned to scale this pilot globally and to truly demonstrate DLT’s ability to transform the global financial system.”
Stijn Vander Straeten, CEO of Crypto Finance Group, added:
“As the Currency Operator for this pilot, we can build a trusted foundation for digital payments and tokenised assets. The success of this pilot strengthens Switzerland’s position as a leading hub for digital financial innovation.”
In the pilot, Crypto Finance Group acted as Currency Operator, overseeing compliance and participant onboarding, while settlement and payment execution were carried out by the banks.
AMINA Bank integrated the technology into its core-banking systems, providing select clients with near-instant settlement without disrupting existing processes.
The pilot establishes a foundation for broader implementation, with plans to expand to additional financial institutions and explore cross-border payments and point-of-sale applications for consumers.
Featured image credit: Edited by Fintech News Switzerland, based on image by marpa.design via Freepik
