The banking network will now look at applications like securities settlement and trade financeA project run by interbank messaging company SWIFT to interconnect central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) offers “clear potential and value,” SWIFT said in a statement on Thursday.

There will now be a second phase of the project, which involves banks such as BNP Paribas (BNP), Intesa San Paolo (ISP), and Standard Chartered (STAN), as well as French and Singaporean central banks. Future applications may include trade finance and securities settlement.

While interest in CBDCs is growing, so is the risk of fragmentation as a widening range of technologies and standards are being experimented with,” Lewis Sun, Global Head of Domestic and Emerging Payments at HSBC, said in a statement, adding that the project could lead to “faster, cheaper and more secure cross-border payments.”

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SWIFT says its project to interconnect central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) offers “clear potential and value.”

In a second phase of the project, which includes banks including BNP Paribas (BNP), Intesa San Paolo (ISP) and Standard Chartered (STAN), as well as the central banks of France and Singapore, further applications such as trade finance and securities settlement could be explored.

“While interest in CBDCs is growing, so is the risk of fragmentation as a wide range of technologies and standards are being tested,” Lewis Sun, Global Head of Domestic and Emerging Payments at HSBC, said in a statement, adding that the project could lead to “faster, cheaper and more secure cross-border payments.”

The company plans to move on to beta testing in the coming months, as well as look at applications like conditional payments in a second phase.

Digital versions of their national currency have already been issued by countries such as the Bahamas and Nigeria, while jurisdictions like the United Kingdom and the European Union are considering them. In order to reduce the time and cost of making transnational payments, regulators have called for central banks to cooperate on their work.