The promotion of digital renminbi is accelerating, but there are still difficulties in fully popularizing it

9 banks in 11 regions are open to the pilot program and can apply

There are still difficulties in speeding up the promotion of digital renminbi and fully popularizing it

Recently, the digital renminbi (pilot version) App has been updated To the latest version, it has been officially launched in major application markets. 49 platforms including JD.com, Meituan, Ele.me, Tmall Supermarket, and Didi Chuxing have all connected to the digital RMB system on January 7, and the application scenarios cover shopping. , travel, life, tourism and other fields.

Experts said that the digital renminbi is open for download in major application stores, which means that the digital renminbi pilot process has taken a big step, but a series of problems need to be solved from the pilot to large-scale popularization, and a set of tools is urgently needed. Proven effective incentive mechanism to promote.

The application scenarios cover many fields

The Digital RMB (Pilot Version) App is the official service platform for China’s legal digital currency-Digital RMB to carry out pilot projects for individual users, and provides digital RMB personal wallets The opening and management of digital renminbi exchange and circulation services.

“The payment and payment functions of the Digital RMB (Pilot Version) App are similar to those of WeChat and Alipay. New users only need to register with their mobile phone number to use the Digital RMB (Pilot Version) App for online, "Offline payment," according to Ms. Lu, who has experienced digital RMB wallets for some time, when using a digital RMB wallet to collect money, you show your payment code to the other party, and the other party scans the QR code to pay. When paying, users only need to show their payment QR code or barcode to the other party, or scan it to pay.

It is reported that the operating institutions currently opening personal digital RMB wallets include Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Agricultural Bank of China, Bank of China, China Construction Bank, Bank of Communications, Postal Savings Bank of China, China Merchants Bank, Online Banking (Alipay), WeChat Banks (WeChat Pay), each institution sets specific limits within the limit based on its own actual situation and risk control capabilities.

The reporter noticed that although the Digital RMB (pilot version) App is currently publicly available for download in major app stores, registration is limited to users in 11 regions, including Shenzhen, Suzhou, Xiongan, and Chengdu. , Shanghai, Hainan, Changsha, Xi'an, Qingdao, Dalian and Winter Olympics scenes (Beijing, Zhangjiakou). In terms of application scenarios, there are currently 49 scenarios (sub-wallets) in the digital RMB (pilot version), including JD.com, Meituan, Ele.me, Tmall Supermarket, Didi Chuxing, Bilibili, Kuaishou, and Ai Internet merchants such as Qiyi and Tencent Video, as well as common payment scenarios such as SF Express, State Grid Online (used for electricity bill payment), Sinopec, and China Telecom Wing Payment.

In fact, since Shenzhen took the lead in launching pilot projects nationwide, my country’s digital renminbi promotion has made significant progress. As of October 22, 2021, my country has opened 140 million digital RMB personal wallets and 10 million corporate wallets. The cumulative number of transactions has reached 150 million, and the transaction volume is close to 62 billion yuan. Currently, 1.55 million merchants support digital RMB wallets, covering various aspects such as public services, catering services, transportation, shopping and government affairs.

Why promote digital currency

As early as 2014, my country’s central bank began to deploy forward-looking research on digital currency. In 2016, the Digital Currency Research Institute of the People's Bank of China was established, becoming the world's first official institution engaged in the research and development of legal central bank digital currencies. At the end of 2017, it led various commercial institutions to carry out the research and development of a digital RMB system. In 2019, the central bank basically completed the top-level design, standard formulation, functional research and development, joint debugging and testing of legal digital currencies, and launched digital renminbi pilot projects in many places across the country in September of the same year.

Why does my country want to implement digital currency? According to Yi Gang, Governor of the Central Bank, the digital economy is an increasingly important driving force for global economic growth. The research and development and application of legal digital currency will help effectively meet the public's demand for legal currency under the conditions of the digital economy, improve the convenience, security and anti-counterfeiting level of retail payments, and promote the accelerated development of my country's digital economy.

"Digital RMB, as a legal currency issued by the central bank, is both universal and legal, and can provide various payment options for various entities." Regarding the significance of promoting digital RMB, industry insiders said, As a public product provided by the central bank to the digital economy, the digital renminbi has outstanding advantages in supporting the development of the digital economy, improving the level of financial inclusion, and improving the operating efficiency of the currency and payment systems.

What conveniences will digital currency bring to people’s lives? Mu Changchun, director of the Central Bank's Digital Currency Research Institute, once described the usage scenario this way: As long as you and I have DC/EP digital wallets on our mobile phones, we don't even need the Internet. As long as the mobile phones have power, just touch the two mobile phones. Transfer digital currency from one person’s digital wallet to another. Digital currency does not need to be bound to any bank account when paying, unlike now when using WeChat and Alipay, you need to bind a bank card.

Experts say that the biggest feature of digital renminbi is security and convenience. Compared with other current third-party payment platforms, it can break information silos and realize cross-platform payments. All future goods, services, and trade transactions , the payment process can be completed with digital currency, and more attention will be paid to protecting personal privacy during use.

Comprehensive popularization still faces challenges

In the era of digital economy, the promotion of digital currency is the general trend. Since last year, major economies around the world have been actively considering or promoting the research and development of central bank digital currencies. According to the latest survey report of the Bank for International Settlements, as of the end of 2020, 86% of central banks around the world are studying central bank digital currency.

Experts say that as competition in the digital currency field of global central banks intensifies, digital currency will become the ultimate venue for international financial competition in the future. The digital RMB (pilot version) App is open for download, which also means an important step has been taken from pilot to application.

Looking forward to the future development of digital renminbi, experts said that digital renminbi is a booster for accelerating digital development and building a digital China. Driven by the vigorous development of network technology and digital economy, it combines online and offline In commercial practice, scene types will be more abundant, bringing a better experience to consumers. At the same time, a series of problems need to be solved for digital renminbi to move from pilot to large-scale popularization. For example, to achieve large-scale popularization, mature technical capabilities should be possessed to ensure the security of the transaction process and payment efficiency; at the same time, it is necessary to increase the understanding of digital renminbi-related knowledge. Popularize education and cultivate payment habits through various incentives.

“To solve the difficult problems in the large-scale promotion of digital renminbi, it is also necessary to form a set of effective and market-oriented incentive mechanisms. Regulatory departments, commercial banks, local governments, scenario developers How to form a joint force to jointly promote the implementation of digital renminbi. In addition, how individual consumers, merchants, enterprises and other users are motivated to use digital renminbi also requires an effective incentive mechanism to promote it, "said the above experts.

It is understood that in order to actively promote the use of digital renminbi, Suzhou, Shenzhen, Hainan, Shanghai and other places have adopted the red envelope model to provide subsidies to benefit the people. At the same time, digital renminbi continues to enrich application scenarios. For example, in Xiongan New District, it has taken the lead in exploring and implementing dual offline payment functions of digital renminbi hardware wallets in bus travel scenarios; Shanghai continues to expand application scenarios such as government affairs and people's livelihood, and is the first to launch digital renminbi hardware wallets online. Payment of personal social insurance premiums through RMB POS channels, etc. Experts said that as digital renminbi continues to expand into more new scenarios, the related ecology will become more complete, and the transaction scale of digital renminbi is expected to be greatly improved.