The Bank of England is looking for companies to help it assess the impact that the digital pound could have on businesses that choose to integrate it with traditional payment methods in the future.

In a statement, the monetary authority said the project will consist of a series of bilateral discussions to gather information on how a digital retail pound could add value to business activities from different sectors and what features might be most valuable to them.

As part of the initiative, participants will also explore potential features such as conditional payments, instant settlement, international operability, offline payment capabilities, and tourist wallets.

The bank said it is particularly keen to engage with companies that are interested in the digital pound but have not yet been involved in the Digital Pound Lab, an experimental platform launched by the organisation in January 2024 to test and explore use cases for a potential UK central bank digital currency.

The new case studies will be added to the Digital Pound Lab to gain a more coherent view of the possible introduction of the digital currency, with non-public information disclosed or opinions expressed in the context of the case study exercise treated as confidential, the central bank said.

Applications are open until 9 January 2026.

Bilateral workshops will be held in February and March, with the results of the study will be announced next year.

The regulator said the next phase will focus on assessing the political opportunity to introduce a digital pound and deciding whether to proceed to the implementation phase. .

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