Digital Pound Lab - terms of participation

Background

The Bank of England (“the Bank”, “we”) is exploring the idea of a digital pound, which would be a new form of money for households and businesses. The Bank is in the design phase of work on a digital pound. No decision has been taken on whether to introduce one.

As part of the design phase, the Bank is conducting experiments and proofs of concept in collaboration with private-sector innovators and a range of stakeholders. After completing the design phase, including taking account of developments in the wider payments landscape, the Bank and Government will assess the policy case for a digital pound and determine whether or not to proceed to the build phase.

Purpose and scope

The Bank is launching the Digital Pound Lab (“the Lab”), an experimental platform. The Lab will enable firms (“Participants”) to experiment with possible digital pound products and services using the infrastructure provided, and to evaluate the viability of prospective business models. It will also enable the Bank to assess the requirements necessary for a digital pound to provide a platform for innovation.

The Lab will help inform the assessment of whether to proceed to build a digital pound. There will be no obligation, however, for the Bank to act on the output of the Lab. Participants of the Lab will not have any decision-making responsibilities or formal advisory capacity, nor will the Bank be under any obligation to formally consult the Participants. The Bank’s engagement with Participants will not replace the generally applicable mechanisms for consultation and engagement that the Bank operates in fulfilment of its statutory objectives.

The Lab will not be a medium for potential technology suppliers to promote their specific solutions to the Bank or other Participants of the Lab.

Timelines and processes

We expect the Lab to be operational for around 12 months, from approximately August 2025 to July 2026 (“the Operation Stage”). We expect firms to develop their use cases within three months of entering the Lab, although they can apply for an extension in limited circumstances.

The Operation Stage will take place in two phases. Phase 1, which will run for approximately three months, will help us demonstrate the capabilities of the Lab before it is opened for wider use cases. This phase will focus on use cases defined by the Bank with the aim to understand whether and how a digital pound could improve existing payment services. Up to six firms will participate in this phase.

In Phase 2, which we expect to run for approximately nine months, the Lab will be opened more widely. We anticipate onboarding up to 10 firms per month for three-month periods. This phase will focus on use cases defined by Participants, and although use cases that demonstrate existing payment services will be accepted, the Bank will prioritise innovative use cases that demonstrate payment services that do not currently exist.

Expected timeline:

• Phase 1:
  • Active from August 2025 to October 2025 (three months)
  • Onboarding from July 2025
• Phase 2:
  • Active from October 2025 to July 2026 (approx. nine months)
  • Onboarding on an ongoing basis, from September 2025 until March 2026
• Final showcasing event in June 2026, where select firms will demonstrate their use cases live

Participants

Participation in the Lab is at the invitation of the Bank and pursuant to an application in accordance with Annex 1 of these Terms of Participation. Participants are private and public sector companies and organisations from a range of sectors (including technology, fintech, payments, banking, and other relevant sectors) that have agreed, and have demonstrated their capability and willingness, to participate in the Lab. By participating in the Lab, each Participant consents to be bound by these Terms of Participation. All Participants are expected to provide their full commitment during a three-month development period (after being onboarded), in addition to refinement workshops (where applicable) and any technical demonstrations. The selection process is set out in Annex 1 to this document.

Responsibilities and activities

Participants are expected to test their use cases and share their perspectives to help explore, validate, and enrich Lab functionalities that are critical to support a diverse range of use cases, and to test the requirements for a platform for innovation.

All Participants will appoint an individual from their team to represent them on the Digital Pound Lab Users Group, a forum comprising all Participants in the Lab. The Group will meet once monthly, and approximately 12 times over the Operation Stage of the Lab, to discuss progress, outcomes, and share insights. Some of these meetings will involve technical demonstration of the use cases developed by the Participants’ teams or any additional functionality implemented on the Lab infrastructure. Participants may continue to attend meetings of the Group even after their three-month development period has ended, provided they continue to contribute to the learnings of the Lab. The Terms of Participation to the Digital Pound Lab Users Group are set out in Annex 3 to this document

Participants are expected to:

• develop their use cases into solutions in the form of proofs of concept or prototypes, in their own development environment, with their own synthetic data and their choice of programming languages and tools (although software development kits will be provided by the Bank). Participants will have the opportunity to showcase their solutions to the Bank, and potentially publicly, throughout the Operation Stage. Upon the completion of the Lab, Participants will showcase their solutions together with their project teams at a final showcasing event. Use cases will also be described in our experiment reports which will be published publicly on our website, where the Participants will be named unless Participants reasonably object to being named and this is explicitly communicated in their applications for the Lab.
• attend technical onboarding workshops and knowledge sharing sessions over a two-week period.
• attend approximately two use case refinement workshops with the Bank over a two-week period.
• provide feedback in a timely manner (within two weeks) to feedback forms distributed by the Bank.
• attend virtual Users Group meetings as required, providing technical, analytical and business perspectives and inputs to the discussions.
• meet with the Bank to discuss their use cases or business models where appropriate or needed in addition to contributing to Users Group meeting.
• support interim demonstrations for internal stakeholders (likely 10 to 20 minutes) by either performing live demonstration(s) or providing video(s).

Terms and Conditions

The Terms of Participation, include these terms and conditions, which shall apply to the Participants in their participation in the Lab, including as members of the Digital Pound Lab Users Group. Additional terms applicable to the Users Group is set out in Annex 3.

In consideration of the mutual obligations of the parties set out in this Terms of Participation, the parties agree to be bound by these terms and conditions.

Confidentiality

The Bank is committed to being transparent about its work, including the operation of the Digital Pound Lab. The Bank reserves the right to use the information shared by Participants in its Digital Pound Lab deliverables, including announcements; experiment report(s) detailing the findings of the Lab; a final, publicly viewable, demonstration event; and any interim demonstrations for internal or external stakeholders. The Bank will disclose names of Participants, although Participants may inform the Bank if they would prefer their names not be disclosed.

Any non-public information disclosed, or opinions expressed in the context of the Digital Pound Lab will be treated as confidential. Participants may be exposed to non-public information in the course of their participation in the Digital Pound Lab. Under no circumstances should market sensitive information be shared in the Lab or as part of the Users Group. Participants are reminded of their legal obligations in relation to material non-public information, including under the UK Market Abuse Regulation (Regulation (EU) No 596/2014).

Participants should inform the Bank, in writing, of any information shared with the Bank as part of the Digital Pound Lab which they consider to be confidential and highlight why they believe it to be confidential. It is also the responsibility of any Participant to ensure that they are satisfied with the level of protection for any information shared by them. If they are not satisfied, then it is the Participant’s responsibility to not share any such information.

Where confidential information is disclosed by a party (whether that be the Bank and/or a Participant) in the course of their participation in the Lab, the receiving party (whether that be the Bank and/or a Participant) agrees to: (i) keep such information confidential and safeguard it accordingly; (ii) not use or exploit the confidential information in any way including but not limited to their competitive and/or market advantage, except for the purposes of the Lab; (iii) not directly or indirectly disclose or make available any such confidential information in whole or in part to any person, except as expressly permitted in writing by the owner of the confidential information; (iv) not to copy, reduce to writing or otherwise record confidential information except as strictly necessary for the purposes of the Lab.

The confidentiality obligations shall not apply where: (i) disclosure is a requirement of the law placed upon either the Bank and/or a Participant including any requirements for disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act or the Environmental Information Regulations; (ii) such information was in the possession of the Participant making the disclosure without the obligation of confidentiality prior to its disclosure by the information owner; (iii) such information was obtained from a third party without the obligation of confidentiality; (iv) such information was already in the public domain at the time of disclosure other than by a breach of this Terms of Participation; (v) such information is independently developed without access to the other party’s confidential information.

These terms shall survive the termination or expiration of this Terms of Participation.

Conflicts of interest, competition law and information-sharing

Participants are responsible for identifying and declaring any conflicts of interest that may arise from participating in the Lab, as soon as they arise. The Bank will decide how the conflict should be managed, which may include in limited circumstances, excluding or suspending the Participant in question from the Lab.

It is the responsibility of each Participant to ensure they understand their responsibilities under, and fully comply with, all applicable competition laws. To the extent that any Participant is unclear about these, they should seek legal advice and if appropriate arrange to undertake competition law compliance training or seek further guidance at their respective organisations

Particular care will need to be exercised in order to make sure that Participants (and their representatives) familiarise themselves with the concept of competitively sensitive information and do not unilaterally disclose or exchange it under any circumstance.

Publicity and branding

Participants shall not without the prior written consent of the Bank, the Bank’s Lab delivery partner and/or other Participants, use the name or brand of each party in any promotion, marketing, announcements relating to the Lab. Where the use of names or brand is permitted, the Bank, the Bank’s Lab delivery partner and/or each Participant shall provide to the other Participant(s), their name or brand in a format to be used for the purpose permitted.

Participants may, with the prior written consent of the Bank (which the Bank will not unreasonably withhold), make public statements about their work in the Lab. After Participants are onboarded to the Lab, the Bank will provide Participants with detailed guidelines on permitted public statements.

Participants agree that they shall not: (i) make any public statements about the Lab which implies that it is speaking on behalf of the Bank, on any future policy of the Bank and/or on the final design of a digital pound; or (ii) conduct itself in such a way as to imply or express any approval or endorsement by the Bank of any products or services which they are testing in the Lab.

Intellectual property

The Bank will make the Digital Pound Lab infrastructure available for Participants to interact with, including through application programming interfaces (APIs).

Participants shall not acquire any right, title, or interest in or to the Intellectual Property Rights (“IPRs”) of the Bank or its licensors, in the Digital Pound Lab infrastructure. This includes but is not limited to the management portal, the APIs, the sample applications, the smart contract platform and any updates and changes which the Bank makes to the Lab infrastructure to enable Participant’s use cases including, following feedback from individual Participants or the Users Group.

The Bank shall not acquire any right, title, or interest, in or to the Participant’s IPRs, including any pre-existing IPR and any use cases designed and developed for the Digital Pound Lab.

The Bank grants to the Participant a limited, non-exclusive, royalty-free, non-transferable licence to use the IPR in the Digital Pound Lab infrastructure. This includes but is not limited to the management portal, the APIs, the sample applications, and the smart contract platform and any updates and changes which the Bank makes to the Lab infrastructure to enable Participant’s use cases, during their term in the Lab and solely for the purpose of participating in the Lab.

The Participant grants to the Bank a perpetual, irrevocable, non-exclusive, royalty-free, worldwide and sub-licensable licence, to use (including but not limited to the right to load, execute, store, transmit, display, copy and publicise) the Participant’s IPRs as necessary for the Bank to enjoy the full benefit of use cases developed for the Lab. This includes but is not limited to the right: (i) to use of all information that Participants share concerning their use case; (ii) to use Participant’s pre-existing IPR included in use cases; (iii) to use feedback and insights provided as part of the Lab including, feedback on any aspect of the Digital Pound Lab infrastructure; and (iv) the right to make such information publicly available, for example, in the form of reports and videos describing the use cases and the findings derived from developing these use cases.

The Participant warrants that it has the power, authority, and right: (i) to provide the use case to the Bank without infringing or violating the rights (including Intellectual Property Rights) of any third party; and (ii) for the Bank to fully enjoy the use cases provided by the Participant as anticipated by this Terms of Participation without infringing or violating the rights (including IPRs) of any third party. The Participant warrants that it will not knowingly, wilfully, or negligently cause the Bank to be in breach of such third party’s IPRs or other rights through the Bank’s enjoyment of the use cases as anticipated by this engagement.

The Participant shall indemnify and shall keep indemnified the Bank against all claims, actions, losses, liabilities, costs, and expenses (including all interest, penalties, and legal and other professional costs) which the Bank may suffer or incur as a result of or in connection with any breach of the Intellectual Property provisions.

Data protection

Each party agrees that it shall duly observe all its obligations under the applicable data protection legislation.

Where the Participant shares personal data with the Bank in its participation in the Digital Pound Lab, the Bank shall process the personal data as a data controller in line with its privacy notice.

See Annex 2 for data protection information.

Term

The Bank expects Participants to develop their use cases within three months of entering the Lab, although they can apply for an extension in limited circumstances.

If at any time during the Operation Stage, the Bank considers that a Participant is not engaging in a sufficient or collaborative manner, the Bank, acting reasonably and in its absolute discretion, may temporarily suspend the participation of the Participant until any concerns have been addressed.

The Bank may terminate, with immediate effect, the Participant’s involvement in the Lab where the Participant commits a material or repeated breach of the Terms of Participation and: (i) the breach is capable of remedy but the Participant has not remedied the breach to the satisfaction of the Bank within an agreed period; or (ii) the breach is not capable of remedy.

Disclaimer

Neither the Bank nor any of its staff, officials, or representatives are responsible for any views or statements expressed by Participants.

The activities, discussions, and outputs of the Lab should not be taken as an indication of future policy by the Bank. Bank policy positions will continue to be developed and communicated in accordance with the usual governance and public consultation procedures of the organisation.

General provisions

These Terms of Participation shall apply to Participants for the duration of their term in the Lab (including their continued membership in the Users Group following the development of their use case) unless and until such time as the Bank exercises its right to terminate a Participant’s involvement due to a breach. Any provisions that by implication are intended to come into or continue in force on or after the termination or expiry of the Terms of Participation shall remain in full force and effect.

The Bank reserves the right to amend these Terms of Participation at any time by giving the Participants reasonable notice in writing. Updated Terms of Participation will be provided to all Participants.

These Terms of Participation shall be governed by English law and the parties submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the English courts to settle all such disputes or claims.

Annex 1: Participant selection process and criteria

Phase 1

Selection process

Phase 1 of the Lab will explore example use cases focused on improving existing payment services. This call for interest is open to organisations interested in hands-on exploration of digital pound use cases, including (but not limited to) technology companies, fintechs, banking and financial services firms, and academia. Applications for this phase are open until 6 June 2025. Phase 1 onboarding is expected to commence July 2025.

If you wish to apply to participate in Phase 1 of the Lab, kindly provide the following:

1. A high-level design for one (or more) of the use case(s) in Table 1 below. (No more than 5 pages including diagrams.) Clearly state in your response:
   • The use case or combination of use cases from Table 1 for which you are proposing to build.
   • Functionalities of the Lab that you intend to use.
   • Whether you propose to build your own PIP and wallet or utilise the Bank’s sample PIP and wallet applications.
2. Your organisation’s area of expertise, relevant experience and how it applies to your use case, and the resources you propose to commit to participating in the Lab. Responses should consider the activities outlined in the Terms of Participation. (No more than one page)
3. A confirmation of the country or countries from which each member of your project team will be working and where you intend to build and implement your use case.
4. A declaration stating whether you agree with your use case design being shared externally in the Bank’s publications and demonstration event(s). (No more than one page.)

Applications should be submitted by email to digitalpoundlab@bankofengland.co.uk.

Selection criteria

Use case design

• Scope. The design(s) should credibly demonstrate end-to-end user journeys for one, or a combination, of the use cases listed in Table 1.
• Compatibility. It should be feasible to build the use case using our API platform (whether directly or through using the Bank’s sample applications).

Firm

• Expertise and experience. It is preferable, but not mandatory, that the firm has expertise in technology or retail payments or has experience developing products or services.
• Resources. It is important that the firm demonstrates they will commit sufficient time and resources to build use cases and contribute to the experiment learnings. The required commitment will include use case development work, attendance at group or bilateral meetings and workshops, performing live technical demonstrations or providing demonstration videos, and responding to feedback forms.
• Capability. Applicants should demonstrate their ability to build the use case(s), both in terms of skilled resources and development environment and tools.
• Risk. The Bank reserves its right to exclude applicants where the delivery of a particular use case or the participation of an applicant may create material concerns, for example, the delivery of the use case poses a heightened cyber security threat.

Phase 2

Selection process

Phase 2 of the Lab will explore use cases defined by industry. These should be retail payment services that can be delivered by PIPs and/or ESIPs. This call for interest is open to organisations interested in hands-on exploration of digital pound use cases, including (but not limited to) technology companies, fintechs, banking and financial services firms, and academia.

Applications for this phase will open from July 2025 until March 2026. Phase 2 onboarding is expected to occur on an ongoing basis from September 2025.

If you wish to apply to participate in Phase 2 of the Lab, kindly provide the following:

1. A brief description of your proposed use case and its design. Your description should set out clearly the problem statement, the technology and solution you expect to develop, the functionalities of the Lab you intend to use, how long you anticipate development would take, and whether you expect to build your own wallet or utilise the Bank’s sample wallet applications. (No more than 5 pages, including diagrams.)
2. A description of your company or organisation, including relevant experience and how it applies to your use cases, and a brief bio for each member of the team that you expect to participate in the experiment. Responses should consider the relevant activities outlined in the Terms of Participation (No more than one page.)
3. A confirmation of the country or countries from which each member of your project team will be working and where you intend to build and implement your use case.
4. A declaration stating whether you agree with your use case design being shared externally in the Bank’s publications and demonstration event(s). (No more than one page.)

Applications should be submitted by email to digitalpoundlab@bankofengland.co.uk. Applicants may submit more than one application, and firms that participate in Phase 1 may apply to participate in Phase 2.

Selection criteria

As a guide, the Bank will consider the selection criteria set out below in evaluating applications. In addition to these criteria the Bank will consider the overall balance of Participants in terms of representation of sectors, areas of expertise, and organisational sizes. The Bank will also consider the overall balance of use cases being tested in the Lab in terms of payment types and user journeys.

Use case design

• Scope. Use case should fall within the scope of the Lab: retail payment services that can be delivered by PIPs and/or ESIPs. Use cases that impose restrictions on how users spend their money will not be permitted.^{footnote [1]}
• Compatibility. It should be feasible for the use case to be built using the API platform (whether directly or through using the Bank’s sample applications) or the smart contract platform, and the use case should showcase the functionalities of the Lab.
• Innovation. It is preferable if use cases either integrate or improve payment services that exist today or demonstrate new payment services that do not currently exist. The Bank will consider the overall balance of use cases being proposed across these categories.
• Uniqueness. The Bank will consider whether use case proposed is already being built or demonstrated by another firm in the Lab.

Firm

• Expertise and experience. It is preferable, but not mandatory, that firm has expertise in technology or retail payments or has experience developing products or services.
• Resources. It is important that the firm demonstrates it will commit sufficient time and resources to build use cases and contribute to the experiment learnings. The required commitment will include use case development work, attendance at group or bilateral meetings and workshops, performing live technical demonstrations or providing demonstration videos, and responding to feedback forms.
• Capability. The firm should demonstrate in its applications their ability to build the use cases, both in terms of skilled resources and development environment and tools.
• Risk. The Bank reserves its right to exclude applicants where the delivery of a particular use case or the participation of an applicant may create material concerns, for example, the delivery of the use case poses a heightened cyber security threat.

Annex 2: Data protection information

The Bank will collect the name, work email address, job title and name of organisation from individuals who submit an application on behalf of their organisation, as well as individuals who will be technically onboarded in the Lab. The Bank may also collect some of this information from individuals who are nominated to represent their organisation in the Digital Pound Users Group.

The Bank will also collect views, opinions and further personal data where this is shared either verbally or in writing (e.g. by using a ‘chat’ function) by individuals participating in online meetings or submitting feedback forms.

The Bank is likely to be a ‘controller’ (within the meaning of data protection law) in respect of the personal data it processes for the selection of Participants and the operation of the Lab. In accordance with data protection law, it is necessary for the Bank to process this personal data for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest.

The Bank also considers that each Participant is likely to be a ‘controller’ in respect of their own processing of personal data for the purposes of their participation in the Lab.

Where the Bank processes personal data for the purposes of the Lab, the Bank will use the information for the purpose of reviewing and assessing applications to become a Participant in the Lab, to communicate with Participants of the Lab, and to advance the purposes of the Lab as set out more fully in these Terms of Participation. This includes contacting unsuccessful Participants when subsequent opportunities for participating in the Lab arise.

Safeguarding individuals’ personal data is important to the Bank. Participants’ personal data will be stored on secure Bank systems with controlled access. The Bank is committed to information security and we use a range of layered information security measures to protect the data we hold. We will keep personal data for so long as is necessary to facilitate the Lab or otherwise in accordance with the Bank’s applicable document retention policies.

Where the Bank uses an online meeting service provider to host meetings, then the privacy statement of that service provider will apply.

You have a number of rights under data protection laws. For more information about how the Bank processes personal data or to contact the Bank about those rights, including making a request for the personal data the Bank holds about you or to request that we no longer use your personal data, please see the Bank’s Privacy Notice. You can also report concerns to the Information Commissioner’s Office, the regulatory authority for data protection in the UK. Contact details can be found on their website.

The Bank’s Data Protection Officer can be contacted via the details above.

Annex 3: Digital Pound Lab Users Group – Terms of Participation

The Digital Pound Lab Users Group (“the Users Group”) is a forum comprising of all Participants and the Bank’s Lab delivery partner (“Members”) for the purpose of discussing progress and outcomes, and sharing insights on the use cases they have been testing in the Lab.

Membership

All Lab Participants will appoint an individual from their team to represent them on the Users Group. Membership is on an organisational basis and individuals appointed are expected to be members of the Participants’ project teams directly involved in the Lab.

The Users Group will meet once monthly, and approximately 12 times over the Operation Stage of the Lab. Members to the Users Group may continue to attend meetings of the Users Group even after their three-month development period has ended, provided they continue to contribute to the learnings of the Lab. 

The Bank will chair and coordinate all meetings.

Responsibilities

The Bank will engage Members of the Users Group on issues of relevance to operation of the Lab and the use cases that the Lab Participants have been testing in the Lab.

Members of the Users Group are expected to:

• attend virtual Users Group meetings as required.
• provide technical, analytical and business perspectives and inputs to the discussions.
• contribute to experiment learnings by sharing information on their use case (including live demonstrations) and learnings around business models, providing feedback on Lab functionalities, and sharing lessons from their overall experience in the Lab.

The Users Group is not a decision-making body for the Lab. The activities and discussions of the Users Group should not be taken as an indication of future policy by the Bank.

The terms and conditions set out in the Terms of Participation shall apply to the Users Group. Additional terms in relation to conflicts of interest, competition law and information-sharing are set out in this annex.

The Bank may invite some stakeholders to attend specific Users Group meetings as observers. The observers must comply with these Terms of Participation where relevant. 

Conflicts of interest, competition law and information-sharing

Members are responsible for identifying and declaring any financial or other interests that could create or be seen to create a conflict of interest as a Member of the Users Group, as soon as they arise. This includes reviewing the forward agenda and identifying and declaring any conflicts of interest to the Bank before every meeting. If a Member finds that a conflict of interest becomes apparent only as the meeting progresses, the nature of the conflict should be declared as soon as practicable to the Bank. The Bank, as Chair of the Users Group, will then decide how the conflict should be managed, including whether the Member should: (i) leave the meeting during discussions relating to the conflicted matter; (ii) stay in the meeting but not participate in the discussion; or (iii) stay in the meeting and participate freely.