Project Promissa - Digitizing Development Promises
A promissory note is a financial instrument that contains a written and signed commitment by one party to pay a specified sum of money to another over a predetermined period. Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) like the World Bank and others have used promissory notes to track and encash multi-year financial commitments from member countries in a process that is cumbersome and requires constant reconciliation.
The World Bank, the Bank for International Settlements and the Swiss National Bank embarked on an exploratory journey of how emerging technology can reimage the management of the promissory notes from contributing member countries. This project developed a proof-of-concept platform for promissory notes in tokenized form, which could substitute the paper-based format and streamline operational processes between parties. The platform was successfully tested by a group of MDBs, Central Banks and Ministries of Finance.
By demonstrating a scalable solution for digitizing and streamlining the promissory note process, Project Promissa showcased a potential pathway to enhance transparency, strengthen institutional coordination, and lays the groundwork for scalable, future-ready solutions across the multilateral system. For more details, please refer to our Promissa Case Study.
Project Update
In November 2025, Project Promissa received a World Bank Group Innovation Award, an internal initiative that supports promising ideas with the potential to deliver impact at scale across the institution. The award helped the project move from the proof-of-concept stage into the current Minimum Viable Product (MVP) phase. The project team is now working with development partners and member countries to further develop and test the platform. Additional updates will be shared soon.
