Private banks supported by Tencent and Ant Group joined the testing.
Two private banks have joined the pilot digital yuan testing program. Bloomberg sources told the agency that WeBank and MYbank will offer the same features as state-owned banks, which have already piloted digital currency.
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- Four state-owned banks are participating in the Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) testing of China: Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Construction Bank of China, Agricultural Bank of China, and Bank of China. As part of the pilot program, these lending institutions will offer their customers digital yuan wallets with the ability to make transfers and payments.
- Backed by Tencent’s WeBank and digital bank MYbank, co-owned by fintech firm Ant Group, will offer the same functionality.
- WeBank and MYbank will be the first commercial banks to join CBDC testing. With the launch of the digital yuan, many speculated that the People’s Bank of China (PBoC) would compete with payment apps from Tencent and Ant Group. However, the regulator clarified that the new tool will not compete with WeChat Pay and Alipay.
- In early February, it became known that PBoC had developed a hardware wallet for storing CBDC. His tests were to take place in the middle of the month. Last week, China tested ATM cashing of digital yuan.
