Bank of England Taps Polygon, NOBO, and Dun & Bradstreet for Digital Pound Phase 2

• Pilot explores stablecoins and digital pound to streamline SME cross-border trade
• Project tests blockchain-driven credit profiles and invoice factoring for faster settlement

On August 12, 2026, CoinDesk reported that the Bank of England selected Polygon Labs, NOBO Finance, and Dun & Bradstreet for Phase 2 of its Digital Pound Lab. This pilot addresses payment delays and costly verification processes that slow down cross-border transactions for small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs), aiming to improve SME access to faster, more reliable trade finance.

Many SMEs face fragmented verification steps and settlement times lasting several days, which can constrain cash flow and increase costs. While large firms have treasury teams to manage these challenges, SMEs often struggle. The Digital Pound Lab’s test seeks to solve these pain points using blockchain infrastructure and digital currencies.

Polygon Labs is providing blockchain infrastructure and powering stablecoin payments via its Open Money Stack, covering everything from wallet management to on-chain settlement. NOBO Finance is leading the design of conditional B2B escrow and trade payments, building on its previous work in the Lab’s first phase. Dun & Bradstreet contributes commercial risk data, enabling the creation of portable, reusable SME credit profiles—called “SME Bankable Profiles.”

The project has two major workstreams. The first builds SME Bankable Profiles by combining wallet transaction data, open-finance sources, and Dun & Bradstreet’s records, which should reduce repetitive onboarding for SMEs. The second tests invoice factoring with electronic shipping documents as collateral, so exporters can receive stablecoin advance payments while importers settle bills in a digital pound.

Polygon reported a central role in stablecoin growth in Q2 2026, settling 743 million transactions and processing $2.6 trillion. Major companies such as Revolut and Stripe are among its users, underscoring Polygon’s significance in the digital payments landscape.

The Digital Pound Lab remains at an experimental stage, using simulated assets only, with no real-world funds or end customers. The Bank of England and HM Treasury will review the pilot’s results to inform any decision on issuing a digital pound. Further updates are expected later in 2026.

As of August 12, 2026, 15:09 UTC, Polygon (POL) is trading at $0.074, down 3.024% in the past 24 hours, according to CoinMarketCap.