Mastercard has announced a new CBDC partner programme for leading blockchain technology and payment service providers.

Head of digital assets and blockchain at Mastercard Raj Dhamodharan said that the move is designed to “foster collaboration with key players in the space so they can drive innovation and efficiencies”.

The first partners joining the programme include crypto platform Ripple, blockchain and Web3 software business Consensys, multi-CBDC and tokenized assets solution provider Fluency, digital identity technology provider Idemia, digital identity consultant Consult Hyperion, security technology group Giesecke+Devrient, and digital asset operations platform Fireblocks.

The payment-processing giant said that so far Fluency has worked on building interoperability among different CBDCs, while Consult Hyperion has worked with central banks and payment processes to define their CBDC requirements.

Ripple has also launched an inagual government-issued national stablecoin in collaboration with the Republic of Palau, in addition to work on four CBDC pilots.

“We believe in payment choice and that interoperability across the different ways of making payments is an essential component of a flourishing economy,” said Dhamodharan. “As we look ahead toward a digitally driven future, it will be essential that the value held as a CBDC is as easy to use as other forms of money.”

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