ANZ first launched a pilot A$DC stablecoin in 2022. According to the Australian Financial Review, ANZ is currently working with pension company HESTA to explore the use of stablecoins for employers to pay employee pension contributions. Australians refer to pensions as superannuation.
Companies that contribute to their employees’ pensions pay out the money and separately send data about what it is related to. ANZ’s idea is to attach data to stablecoin payments as part of a smart contract.
Apparently, 200 million pensions are paid each year and the margin of error is 1.6%. Everything goes through a central clearing house called SuperStream. The rules are being changed so that they will be paid at the same time as salary, rather than quarterly as is currently the case.
ANZ’s idea of encapsulating data with payments eliminates the entire reconciliation process and allows staff to see their contributions in real time.
Following the launch of ANZ’s stablecoin, the bank also participated in the Australian Central Bank’s digital currency trial, contributing to multiple use cases. One of these involved SuperStream payments and involved HESTA.
ANZ continues to explore tokenization and recently joined Project Guardian in Singapore.
Ledger Insights Research has released a report on bank-issued stablecoins and tokenized deposits featuring over 70 projects. Click here for more information.
