Digital yuan app adds prepaid Mastercard Visa top-ups for tourists

September 25, 2023 Coin Telegraph

China

The e-CNY app now allows tourists to top-up their wallets using Mastercard and Visa payments with a “recharge first and use later” option.

Tourists planning to visit the People’s Republic of China can now pre-charge their digital yuan wallets using Visa and Mastercard payment options as the nation continues to update the mobile app powering its central bank digital currency (CBDC) pilot.

The e-CNY app, which is still in its pilot version, is available to iOS and China-based Google Play Store users. The application serves individual users, allowing them to open digital yuan wallets to use e-CNY.

As per the latest iOS app update published on Sept. 22, version 1.1.1 supports its top-up service with international card options.

*The latest version of e-CNY app on the Apple App Store introduces the top-up service for international cards. Source: e-CNY app*

According to a number of local Chinese news outlets, the latest version of the e-CNY app coincides with the start of the Asian Games.

*A tutorial for foreign users outlining the process of signing up using an international number. Source: e-CNY app.*

China has extensively trialed using the digital yuan as a payment option for foreigners visiting the country. According to Yicai, the Beijing Winter Olympics in 2022 marked the beginning of the CBDC pilot being open for tourists as a means to transact with local merchants using e-CNY.

Inbound tourists are reportedly able to make use of overseas mobile numbers to register and open e-CNY wallets and make use of the recharge wallet feature, which now supports Visa and Mastercard payments.

As Cointelegraph recently reported, China is making moves to ensure that the digital yuan is available as a payment option for all retail payment scenarios. This would make the digital yuan a ubiquitous payment method in China between retail users and merchants.

Magazine: Real reason for China’s war on crypto, 3AC judge’s embarrassing mistake: Asia Express

China’s digital yuan nears $250B transaction volume: Central bank governor

July 20, 2023 Coin Telegraph

China’s digital yuan nears 0B transaction volume: Central bank governor

Bank of China Hong Kong

While the adoption and use cases of China’s e-CNY are expanding, the digital yuan still only represents 0.16% of China’s monetary supply.

Nearly $250 billion worth of transactions have taken place using China’s digital yuan in the one-and-a-half years since the start of its pilot, the country’s central bank governor has claimed.

On July 19, People’s Bank of China governor Yi Gang spoke at a conference in Singapore and said its central bank digital currency transacted 1.8 trillion yuan as of the end of June.

Yi added there have been around 950 million transactions from roughly 120 million wallets since the e-CNY’s initial January 2022 rollout lending to an average transaction amount of about $260.

MAS is honoured to have Dr Yi Gang, President of China Society for Finance and Banking as the speaker for the MAS Lecture 2023. Dr Yi spoke on “CBDC from China’s perspective”.

Find out more here: https://t.co/UbikjgQhRn pic.twitter.com/UuQwOQe8n0
— MAS (@MAS_sg) July 19, 2023

He claimed around $2.3 billion, or 16.5 billion e-CNY, was in circulation at the end of June, which only represents 0.16% of China’s monetary supply, according to a July 19 Reuters report.

The digital yuan’s adoption is still minimal relative to China’s 1.4 billion strong population, so far, the e-CNY had mostly been used for domestic retail payments aside from a few trials in Hong Kong.

On July 18, the South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported the Bank of China Hong Kong began trialing another cross-border payment scheme for Bank of China customers at select retail stores in Hong Kong.

The trial was rolled out in a bid to further promote the cross-border applications of e-CNY and is the third cross-border trial of the digital yuan in Hong Kong, according to the SCMP.

In a trial last year the BOCHK launched a program that encouraged customers to set up a BOC e-CNY wallet to receive $14 (100 yuan) to be used at the Hong Kong supermarket chain U Select.

In January, the central bank integrated smart contract functionality into the digital yuan to expand upon its use cases.

The $250 billion in e-CNY transactions is an over 70% increase from the number the bank cited in August 2022.

The amount is still, however, far off the amount of value processed by some of the largest public blockchains in the world.

Bitcoin (BTC), for example, processed $8.2 trillion in 2022, according to various reports.

Magazine: Asia Express: China expands CBDC’s tentacles, Malaysia is HK’s new crypto rival

China could benefit from yuan stablecoin over its CBDC — Circle CEO

July 11, 2023 Coin Telegraph

CBDC

China may have banned the use of cryptocurrencies, but stablecoins might have a role to play in the proliferation of its national currency.

Although China has closed its doors to decentralized cryptocurrencies, Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire believes that stablecoins could play a role in the proliferation of China’s digital yuan.

Allaire, who heads up the company behind the United States dollar-backed stablecoin USD Coin (USDC), suggested that a yuan-based stablecoin might be China’s best bet for driving the adoption of its national currency in an interview with the South China Morning Post.

“If eventually the Chinese government wants to see the RMB [yuan] used more freely in trade and commerce around the world, it may be that stablecoins are the path to do that more than the central bank digital currency.”

China cracked down on the use of cryptocurrencies in 2021 while simultaneously blazing the trail for the trial, testing and issuing of its digital yuan central bank digital currency (CBDC). As of January 2023, the Chinese government noted that some 13 billion digital yuan are in circulation .

Interestingly, the digital yuan website claims that the currency will replace the dollar, Tether (USDT) and all other stablecoins, while stipulating that the CBDC will not be a stablecoin. The website allows users to exchange cryptocurrency for digital yuan through MetaMask or its own conversion portal.

Allaire conceded that China is unlikely to warm toward using decentralized cryptocurrencies and stated that Hong Kong’s progressive attitude toward the crypto sector could signal subversive support from the mainland.

The Circle CEO also noted that moves by various governments and central banks around the world to develop CBDCs that move away from “legacy technology into more modern distributed ledger technology” was positive, but it should not be misconstrued as a move toward accepting decentralized and self-sovereign systems:

“There’s a whole bunch of things that are useful from that, but I view that as very different from the work that the private sector does to innovate on the public internet.”

Nevertheless, the digital yuan is finding its way across Chinese borders. As Cointelegraph previously reported, Singapore-based, cryptocurrency-friendly bank DBS has developed a digital yuan merchant solution allowing Chinese businesses to receive payments in the CBDC.

The service allows clients based in mainland China to receive or collect digital yuan and have settlements made directly to yuan-based bank accounts.

Collect this article as an NFT to preserve this moment in history and show your support for independent journalism in the crypto space.

Magazine: Asia Express: China expands CBDC’s tentacles, Malaysia is HK’s new crypto rival

Crypto-Friendly DBS Bank Launches Digital Yuan Designed for CBDC Payments

July 5, 2023 The Daily Hodl

China’s Wechat Adds Support for Digital Yuan Payments

March 8, 2023 Bitcoin.com

China doles out millions in digital yuan in bid to boost adoption: Report

February 6, 2023 Coin Telegraph

CBDC

Multiple Chinese city governments have given away millions worth of e-CNY to try to promote consumption around the holiday season.

Millions of dollars worth of China’s Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) has been handed out across the country over the Lunar New Year period in a bid to boost its takeup.

According to a Feb. 6 report in the Global Times, an English-language outlet of the state-ran People’s Daily newspaper, around 200 “activities” for the e-CNY were launched across the country during the holiday period.

These "activities" were made to “promote consumption” — the first of such since the government recently relaxed COVID-19 restrictions.

Multiple cities reportedly gave away over $26.5 million, or 180 million yuan worth of the CBDC in programs such as subsidies and consumption coupons.

One example provided by the outlet included the Shenzhen local government handing out over $14.7 million (100 million yuan) worth of e-CNY to subsidize the catering industry in the city.

*A QR code (blurred) for paying with digital yuan is displayed at a Chinese convenience store, users can scan the code and use e-CNY to pay for goods.* *Source*

A Feb. 1 China Daily report said Hangzhou issued each resident a $12 (80 yuan) e-CNY voucher on Jan. 16 with the total giveaway costing the city around $590,000, or 4 million yuan.

Some of these initiatives proved to be very popular among residents.

Citing data from the e-commerce platform Meituan, the Global Times rreport stated that e-CNY given away by the Hangzhou city government for the New Year celebrations was taken up by residents within nine seconds.

The last few months has seen the government enacti other targets and features to boost the usage of the CBDC.

On Feb. 1, senior ruling party officials in Suzhou city set a tentative key performance indicator for the end of 2023 to have $300 billion (2 trillion yuan) worth of e-CNY transactions in the city.

The target is ambitious considering cumulative e-CNY transactions had crossed $14 billion (100 billion yuan) in October 2022, two years after the CBDC’s launch.

In late December last year, in a bid to attract new users the e-CNY wallet app introduced the ability to send “red packets,” called hongbao in China, which is used for gifting money around the holidays.

The wallet app received an update in early January allowing users to make contactless payments using Android phones — even if their device is without internet or power.

In December, a former Chinese central banker called the results of the e-CNY trials “not ideal,” and admitted, “usage has been low, highly inactive.”

Chinese Communist Party officials issue KPIs for e-CNY transactions in Suzhou

February 2, 2023 Coin Telegraph

China

CCP officials want to see the e-CNY surpass $300 billion in transactions in 2023 through promotional efforts.

According to local news outlet JS China, on Feb. 1, an annual meeting regarding the trial of the digital yuan central bank digital currency (e-CNY CBDC) was attended by senior Communist Party officials in the City of Suzhou. As part of the meeting outcomes, party officials have set a tentative key performance indicator (KPI) of 2 trillion CNY ($300 billion) for e-CNY CBDC transactions in the city by the end of 2023 to be implemented by municipal administrators through promotional efforts.

Officials have also set a target of processing $30 billion in e-CNY loans for small and mid-sized businesses in Suzhou by the end of the year. In 2022, e-CNY transactions in the city surpassed 340 billion CNY ($50.5 billion) at 930,000 local businesses and government offices, with over 30.54 million digital wallet downloads. Total financial incentives related to the e-CNY amounted to 40 billion CNY ($5.9 billion), while 18.7 billion ($2.78 billion) in e-CNY loans were issued.

Simultaneous to the e-CNY KPIs, local administrators are required to oversee the development of at least 1,000 firms in the digital financial technology sector within Suzhou specializing in the artificial intelligence, data, cloud computing, blockchain and machine learning fields by 2025, up from 371 currently. A translated excerpt of the City of Suzhou plan reads:

"By 2025, the People's Bank of China's digital assets data monitoring platform, finance and commodities blockchain-powered exchange, internet of things payment solution, and fintech lab will have produced tangible results. This would incentivize the development of the digital finance ecosystem and synergize well with the existing financial sector within the City of Suzhou."

Chinese Economist Urges Government to Reconsider Crypto Ban — Warns of Missed Tech Opportunities

February 2, 2023 Bitcoin.com

China’s digital yuan gets smart contract functionality alongside new use cases

January 20, 2023 Coin Telegraph

CBDC

China's central bank digital currency (CBDC) has seen new use cases in recent days, including buying securities and making offline payments.

China’s Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) — the digital yuan, or eCNY — has received upgrades giving it smart contract functionality alongside a series of newly unveiled use cases.

The smart contract function was launched on the Meituan app, a Chinese app offering retail and food delivery services, according to a Jan. 17 report by local cryptocurrency media outlet 8btc.

When Meituan users place an order and pay with their e-CNY wallet, a smart contract triggers and searches for keywords and purchased items in their order. If a user buys something on the list of keywords for the day, they go in the draw to win part of a prize.

The prize is a share of a “red envelope” known locally as hongbao containing 8,888 yuan, worth a little over $1,300.

Hongbao are small packets traditionally used for gifting money around Chinese New Year as a gesture of good luck.

*A user prepares to send a digital red packet on the messaging app WeChat. Image: YouTube*

In December last year, the e-CNY wallet app introduced a feature for users to send digital red envelopes in a bid to boost adoption before the Chinese New Year on Jan. 22.

Digital yuan sees new avenues for use

Alongside the latest development, new uses for the e-CNY have also been added over the last few days.

A Jan. 16 report from the China Securities Journal said e-CNY was used to buy securities for the first time. Investors can also use the CBDC to buy securities with the mobile app for Soochow Securities, a local brokerage firm.

The digital yuan wallet app also received an update with users now able to make contactless payments using Android phones even if their device is without internet or power according to a Jan. 11 Yicai Global report.

The new uses for the digital yuan come as China has been struggling with the adoption rate of its CBDC.

A former official from the People’s Bank of China (PBOC), the country’s central bank, even made a rare public admission in December 2022 saying the digital yuan’s “usage has been low” and “highly inactive” and added, “the results are not ideal.”

On Jan. 10, the PBOC included e-CNY in currency circulation reports for the first time revealing the CBDC represented roughly 0.13% of the 10.47 trillion yuan ($1.54 trillion) in circulation at the end of 2022.

Former Chinese central banker says digital yuan ‘usage has been low’

December 30, 2022 Coin Telegraph

Adoption

A former China central banker said cumulative e-CNY transactions only crossed $14 billion in two years, adding the results were “not ideal.”

A former official of the People’s Bank of China (PBOC), the country’s central bank, has expressed disappointment that China’s digital yuan is seeing little use.

Xie Ping, a former PBOC research director and current finance professor at Tsinghua University, made critical public comments about China’s central bank digital currency (CBDC) at a recent university conference, according to a Dec. 28 Caixin report.

Xie noted that cumulative digital yuan transactions had only crossed $14 billion (100 billion yuan) in October, two years after launch. “The results are not ideal,” he said, adding that “usage has been low, highly inactive.”

Despite the government’s rapid expansion of the trials and new wallet features to try to attract users, a January PBOC report stated that only 261 million users had set up an e-CNY wallet.

This compares to around 903.6 million people that utilize mobile payments in China, according to a 2021 China UnionPay report.

The former central banker said the use case of e-CNY “needs to be changed” from its current use as a cash substitute and opened to other uses such as the ability to pay for financial products or connected to more payment platforms to boost adoption.

He compared the digital yuan to other third-party payment systems in the country such as WeChat Pay, Alipay, and QQ Wallet, which allow for investments, lending or loans. He said they “have formed a payment market structure that has met needs for daily consumption.”

Some third-party financial apps are e-CNY compatible but see little use, as Xie said “people are used to” using the original service and change “is difficult.”

Such criticism of Chinese government initiatives is rare from former officials and signals the country may be seriously struggling to gain traction on its CBDC initiative.

The government has rapidly expanded e-CNY trails most recently in December to four new cities. It was previously expanded in September to Guangdong province, its most populous, and three others.

New features were added to the e-CNY wallet app in a bid to attract users in time for Chinese New Year that added functionality to send digital versions of traditional red packets or red envelopes (hongbao) containing money — a popular custom during festivities.

e-CNY

Digital yuan sees new avenues for use

Share this video