The central banks of Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand are expanding cooperation on cross-border payments. Through the BLOOM initiative, the trio aims to improve settlement using regulated stablecoins. Tokenized deposits and other forms of digital money will also be included in the initiative.
In a recent announcement, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) said Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) and the Bank of Thailand (BOT) have joined BLOOM as policymaker members. The three institutions will collaborate with industry participants to develop common approaches for accepting, exchanging and settling digital money.
BLOOM Initiative Expands Industry Participation
BLOOM, short for Borderless, Liquid, Open, Online, Multi-currency, is a public-private initiative. It is bringing together policymakers, financial institutions, payment networks and technology providers. The objective of BLOOM is to address practical challenges associated with using stablecoins across borders.
New industry participants for stablecoin payments include Airwallex, Mastercard, Maybank, Monee, Nium, Ripple, ShopeePay, Visa and the World Bank Group. They are joining existing participants such as Circle, Coinbase, DBS, J.P. Morgan, Standard Chartered, and Stripe for the same purpose.
The initiative is exploring applications across payments, treasury management and trade finance. The World Bank Group is expected to contribute perspectives on payment modernization and financial inclusion.
Three Priorities for Digital Money Interoperability
BLOOM participants plan to focus on three main areas. These areas include cross-border acceptance, interoperability, and programmable compliance controls. They are making efforts to determine how institutions can transact using different forms of digital money. The other work being done is to establish technical connections between networks and incorporate safeguards.
By developing shared implementation frameworks, BLOOM aims to reduce the need for separate systems for every market. This will lower integration costs and accelerate the deployment of cross-border payment services.
The initiative reflects growing regional interest in modernizing international payments. However, the announcement did not specify a pilot launch date, payment corridors or a timeline for live settlements. Its current focus remains on developing common frameworks for interoperable digital money systems.