Operating under the monicker Project Ubin, MAS says the benefits of using distributed ledger technology in the payments arena were clearly demonstrated through workshops conducted with more than 40 financial and non-financial firms.

Project Ubin Phase 5 validated the use of smart contracts on the payments network prototype in use cases such as Delivery-versus-Payment (DvP) settlement with assets on private exchanges, conditional payments and escrow for trade, as well as payment commitments for trade finance.

MAS says the commercial applications of the payments network prototype include cross-border payments in multiple currencies, foreign currency exchange, settlement of foreign currency denominated securities, as well as integration with other blockchain-based platforms to enable end-to-end digitalisation "across many industries and use cases".

Sopnendu Mohanty, chief fintech officer, MAS, says technical specifications for the functionalities and connectivity interfaces of the prototype network have been made publicly available to spur further industry development.

“As with all innovation adoption, there is a time for experimentation, and a time for commercialisation," he says. "Project Ubin has worked with the financial industry and blockchain community on a journey of experimentation, prototyping and learning. This has built a strong foundation of knowledge, expertise and experience, and paved a path towards commercial adoption. Following the successful experimentation over five phases, we look forward to greater adoption and live deployment of blockchain technology.”