The Qatar Central Bank (QCB) is reportedly spending resources in deep-diving into the potential introduction of a digital currency, and rolling out digital bank licenses. 

Specifically, as revealed by the head of the fintech division at QCB, Alanood Abdullah Al Muftah, the central bank is working towards the goal of setting a direction for its future concentration soon on an array of fintech verticals. 

“Each central bank should study digital banks, considering their growing significance in the global market. We also see the direction of the market moving toward having a digital currency. However, it’s still being studied whether we’re having a digital currency or not.” Al Muftah further shared the chances of Qatar coming up with a central bank digital currency (CBDC). 

While leaving remarks on Qatar’s regulatory sandbox, Al Muftah additionally claimed that three entities doing business in the payment sphere are running testing for solutions with the central bank at the moment. 

She further revealed that the QCB is taking different companies expressing their interests in taking advantage of the regulatory sandbox into consideration. 

A regulatory sandbox is reportedly an environment offering fintech entities the space to run testing for new products, services, business models and delivery mechanisms in a real-world setting, while taking advantage of an accelerated authorization process and supervisory monitoring.

Private Qatari bank Dukhan Bank, meanwhile, is reportedly carrying out examinations for the possible creation of a digital bank in Qatar, as revealed by its chief operations and digital officer Narayanan Srinivasan. 

However, Srinivasan warned that only when his institution had a full grasp of its economics does it feel the need to build a digital bank. As per the report, Dukhan Bank is also considering blockchain in the payments sector.