Digital Money: CBDC, Digital Franc and Digital Euro for financial institutions

Digital money is entering the phase where Financial Institutions must stop treating it only as research and start assessing operational impact. The topic is not only a new payment instrument. It touches settlement, treasury, custody, wallets, core systems, compliance, reconciliation and market infrastructure strategy.

In Switzerland, through Project Helvetia, the Swiss National Bank is exploring the settlement of tokenised assets in central bank money. The approach includes wholesale CBDC in Swiss francs on a regulated DLT platform and an RTGS link for synchronized settlement in traditional central bank money. The pilot has been extended and work continues, without representing a permanent commitment to introduce wholesale CBDC. In the euro area, the ECB concluded the preparation phase of the digital euro in October 2025. Assuming EU legislation is adopted in 2026, a pilot could start in 2027 and the Eurosystem aims to be ready for potential first issuance during 2029.

Project Helvetia explores different approaches. In an integrated settlement model, central bank money and tokenised assets exist on the same DLT infrastructure, allowing simultaneous transfer. In a synchronized settlement model, the asset is settled on DLT while the cash leg is settled in traditional central bank money through an RTGS link.

This distinction matters because each model creates different impacts on core banking, liquidity, custody, reconciliation, settlement finality, compliance and operational monitoring. Institutions need to understand which processes would be affected and which capabilities should be strengthened before these models become mainstream.

FORFIRM supports Digital Money Impact Assessment, scenario planning, operating model design and readiness roadmap. We assess how CBDC, tokenised settlement, RTGS links, digital euro, custody and wallet solutions may affect processes, systems, controls and stakeholders.

Our approach does not assume that one model will win over all others. It helps the institution understand which capabilities would be necessary under different scenarios and which preparatory actions have value regardless of the final infrastructure outcome.