Australia-based Monoova has successfully completed the first real-world cross-border settlement using the Australian dollar CBDC. The feat was achieved during an invitation-only event held by the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) in collaboration with the Digital Finance Cooperative Research Centre for participants in the Australian Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) pilot project.

The pilot in question was launched in 2022 with the aim of exploring the potential benefits of an Australian CBDC. Monoova’s use case focused on cross-border settlement and custody, and its trial was established with an existing FX client named NexPay. During the live demonstration, those who were present at the conference were able to witness the settlement of the domestic leg of an inbound FX remittance payment.

Specifically, NexPay received an AUD payment from a Japan-based client. This payment was settled by Monoova to NexPay’s pilot CBDC wallet, which offered proof of balance of the payment backed by the RBA. It's worth noting that under the CBDC pilot, Monoova provides clients with Australian dollars in pilot CBDC on its platform instead of offering fiat Australian dollars in a balance.

In the company press release, Monoova representatives explained that this system allows them to instantly settle any funds that come to Australia, while clients can independently verify account balances on the blockchain instead of relying on intermediary reports. Monoova’s efforts to facilitate payments in Australia In May 2023,  Monoova partnered with commerce automation platform Primer to facilitate easier, seamless payments in Australia. Through this partnership, Primer agreed to offer PayTo and PayID enabled by Monoova, in addition to over 100 commerce and payment apps available on its platform.

The collaboration offers Primer’s global customers, with operations in Australia, access to New Payment Platform’s real-time payment method led by the Reserve Bank of Australia. The partnership also enables Monoova’s customers in Australia to access more digital payment options, including Apple and Google Pay through Primer, giving Australian businesses more ecommerce reach at home and abroad. In July 2022, Monoova merged with Moneytech to allow businesses to consolidate domestic and international payment processes.

The businesses merged under the Monoova brand were able to carry on their work to automate and streamline payment processes, with clients able to access a toolkit for domestic and global payment flows through a single API gateway. At the time, Monoova’s representatives explained that with their new platform, clients can automate the receipt, payment, and management of domestic and cross-border funds, reducing costs and resource requirements, and allowing teams to focus on growth and innovation. .