Banks Flock to Chinese Digital Yuan Pilot – 60 Now Offer CBDC Wallets
According to a recent report in the Chinese media, a total of 60 Chinese banks are now offering digital wallets for the nation’s digital yuan, the e-CNY, as part of the country’s highly publicized Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) pilot.
The news comes as the People’s Bank of China (PBC) is pushing forward with its plans to eventually launch the digital yuan in the domestic market. The banks joining the CBDC project, according to the report, include the country’s 5 largest state-owned commercial banks (State-owned Commercial Banks), as well as 10 joint stock commercial banks, 24 City Commercial Banks, and 21 Rural Commercial Banks. In addition, the report noted that online banking and mobile payment giants such as Alipay and WeChat Pay are also actively participating in the project.
It appears that the increased involvement of banking institutions shows that the Chinese government is actively promoting the benefits of the digital yuan, hoping to eventually replace physical cash with a digital, central bank-backed e-currency. However, there are still some roadblocks in the way of officially launching the project. Among the main challenges the Chinese financial institutions and tech-giants are now facing is ensuring the security of the systems, as well as getting the population to adopt the digital yuan. Still, it seems that the Chinese government is making steady progress and the launch of the official CBDC platform may be closer than many expect.