Professional services firm Accenture has today announced it has been hired by Singapore's de facto central bank to develop distributed ledger prototype systems for processing interbank payments.

Just this week, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) went public with the three new payments prototypes, which were developed using three platforms: Quorum (an ethereum-based system developed by JPMorgan Chase), Hyperledger Fabric and R3's Corda.

The work forms part of the second phase of "Project Ubin," the blockchain banking project that includes institutions like Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Standard Chartered and Citi, among others, as participants.

"Project Ubin is making a great leap forward in proving the value and potential of DLT systems and their ability to transform industries," David Treat, managing director of Accenture's global blockchain practice, said in a statement, adding:

Accenture is expected to publish a technical report on Project Ubin's second phase next month, a release says.

In its statement on Monday, the MAS revealed new details about its work with blockchain tech, including an ongoing partnership with the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. At the time, managing director Ravi Menon revealed that as many as 50 startups are working on blockchain-related initiatives in Singapore.

Singapore image via Shutterstock