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SYDNEY, March 2 (Reuters) - Australia's central bank is launching 14 pilot projects with the financial industry to develop real world applications for a digital Australian dollar, with the focus on business use rather than a new public means of exchange.
The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) said proposed uses for a central bank digital currency (CBDC) included offline payments, corporate bond and FX settlement, tokenised bills and even livestock auctions.
Partners include Australia and New Zealand Banking Corp , Commonwealth Bank of Australia and Mastercard , along with a range of fin tech firms.
"The project involves selected industry participants demonstrating potential use cases for a CBDC using a limited-scale pilot CBDC that is a real digital claim on the Reserve Bank," the RBA said in a statement.
A report on the progress of the live pilots is expected around the middle of the year. (Reporting by Wayne Cole; Editing by Lincoln Feast.)