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Banco Do Brasil, a bank owned in its majority by the Brazilian state, and Giesecke+Devrient, are partnering to explore the possibilities of bringing offline payments to the future Brazilian CBDC, Drex. The joint initiative will include this functionality in Drex’s pilot, to extend access to financial services to Brazilians with difficult or no access to internet in secluded areas.
Banco Do Brasil and Giesecke+Devrient Partner to Bring Offline Transactions to Brazilian CBDC
The Brazilian central bank digital currency (CBDC) project, Drex, might become usable offline. Banco Do Brasil, a bank owned 70% by the Brazilian state, and Giesecke+Devrient, a German information and tech security company, have teamed up to include offline capabilities to the pilot of Drex, the Brazilian CBDC.
This new feature focuses on supporting the use case of Drex as a payment method in areas where internet connection is deficient or unavailable, like in remote regions of Brazil. Drex is being profiled as a complement to cash, which is currently the second most used payment method in the country.
The alliance will allow the participants to test the feasibility of this offline solution, and its technical compliance with Drex’s future architecture. Giesecke+Devrient has already participated in other CBDC projects, including Hong Kong’s CBDC pilot, that have also tested similar solutions to maintain operativity under offline conditions.
However, offering offline capabilities not only focuses on serving customers in secluded areas. Giesecke+Devrient emphasized this feature will also “enable payments to be made in crisis situations, such as power or internet outages, where cash was previously the only option.”
Raoul Herborg, Managing Director CBDC at Giesecke+Devrient, reinforced the significance of an always-available CBDC product. “A CBDC must work for everyone, anywhere, at any time. Only in this way can it be a truly inclusive public digital currency,” he stated.
Marisa Reghini, vice president of digital business at Banco Do Brasil, remarked on the relevance of bringing this solution for offline payments. “Brazilians can benefit from the solution in their daily lives, carrying out secure transactions in local shops, for example, without the need for a bank account or the Internet,” she stressed.
Drex is expected to be launched at the end of 2024.