CIBC and BMO Join Project Agorá as Canada Expands Its Role in Tokenized Cross-Border Payments
Canadian banks are joining a global test of tokenized, programmable infrastructure for wholesale cross-border payments.
CIBC and BMO reported that they are joining Project Agorá, the global initiative convened by the Bank for International Settlements and the Institute of International Finance to explore how new technology could improve wholesale cross border payments. Their participation follows the Bank of Canada joining in May 2026, expanding Canada’s involvement across both the central bank and commercial banking sides of the initiative.
Project Agorá brings together eight central banks and more than 40 regulated financial institutions to test a shared programmable payments platform designed to improve the speed, efficiency and transparency of international payments.
What Project Agorá is testing
The project is examining whether commercial bank money and central bank settlement can operate on shared infrastructure across currencies and jurisdictions.
A key feature is atomic settlement, where different parts of a transaction are completed together, helping reduce reconciliation and settlement risk. The project is also assessing how the model can connect with existing banking and payment infrastructure.
The Project Has Moved Into Real-Value Testing
In July 2026, Project Agorá progressed from prototype testing to transactions involving real value. Twenty eight financial institutions and central banks completed approximately CHF 800,000 of transactions across 17 scenarios, including corporate payments, interbank payments, payment versus payment transactions and transfers within banking groups.
Average settlement time was approximately 80 seconds, despite the prototype not being directly integrated with existing real time gross settlement and core banking systems. Participants could also track payment status and routing throughout the transaction.
The testing also demonstrated interaction with existing systems through ISO 20022 payment and reporting standards, with further testing continuing.
What Businesses Can Build
CIBC will contribute its payments and digital assets expertise as the project moves into its next phase. The bank said the initiative aligns with its work to modernize financial infrastructure and improve the speed, efficiency and certainty of institutional payments.
BMO will bring its payments expertise and experience in digital assets. Its participation also complements the Canadian dollar tokenized deposit initiative announced by six Canadian banks in September 2026, extending that work into a global and multi currency environment.
The Project Also Tests the Regulatory Model
Project Agorá is examining how the new infrastructure would operate within existing requirements covering settlement finality, anti money laundering controls, countering terrorist financing and data privacy.
The initiative therefore tests more than technology. It also examines the legal, operational, governance and compliance requirements needed for a shared cross border payments platform.
🚨 What This Signals for the Canadian Financial Sector
The addition of CIBC and BMO expands Canada’s role in Project Agorá beyond the Bank of Canada and gives Canadian banks direct exposure to a global test of next generation wholesale payments infrastructure.
It also connects domestic and international experimentation. Canadian banks are exploring new forms of digital bank money at home, while Project Agorá allows them to examine how similar infrastructure could work across currencies and jurisdictions.
For the Canadian financial sector, the significance lies in testing how faster and more programmable cross border payments could be introduced within the regulated banking system and alongside existing payment, legal and compliance frameworks.
