- One of the largest digital payment services of China is Tencent’s WeChat Pay which alone is 15% of the total Chinese payments industry.
- Even though the People’s Bank of China (PBoC) has refused to dedicate itself to a complete national rollout, many popular areas of China now have access to digital yuan due to the pilot.
- As per Yicai, several major players have joined the digital yuan game, the biggest known being the Jingdong mall, China’s biggest e-commerce site.
When millions of citizens of China are experiencing what life is with the central bank digital currency (CBDC) for the first time ever, as some of the biggest cities’ citizens started the utilization of pilot version of the CBDC application, the payment platform, WeChat Pay, has started its own journey with the digital yuan.
Tencent’s WeChat Pay is one of China’s largest digital payment services, accounting for 15% of the total Chinese payments industry with Ant Group’s Alipay (part of the Alibaba business empire).
Interoperability with the platform will be viewed as a significant move forward for Beijing, which many believe is attempting to enter both the digital payment and crypto sectors with its new coin. Two major crackdowns, the most recent of which occurred in September of last year, have pushed crypto aside. Beijing claims that, unlike other CBDC ventures, its digital yuan plan would not employ blockchain technology.
PBoC’s Refusal For National Rollout
The People’s Bank of China (PBoC) has denied dedicating itself to a complete national rollout, but thanks to a rapidly expanding pilot, many of the country’s most populous areas now have access to the digital yuan, and the bank is hopeful that the token would be fully prepared to be showcased to the world at the Winter Olympics, which will take place in the capital fairly soon. The pilot includes Beijing’s Olympic sites.
WeChat Pay customers can find digital yuan functionality via the WeBank service after finishing a quick validation process, and could now pay with the token by scanning a payment code of digital yuan on WeChat, or by permitting merchants to scan a code using their own gadgets, according to Sina and Hexun.
WeChat & Alipay
Although the PBoC continues to underplay the relevance of such advancements, WeChat Pay has a massive user base. WeChat is much more than a chat app; it’s also a digital marketplace, an e-commerce portal, a gaming hub, and has additional internet features. Over 1 billion people utilize the site, with many of them using WeChat Pay.
Alipay users will almost certainly be able to get their hands on the token shortly. Users in test locations might also be able to use the CBDC app through a partnership with MYBank, an online lending network. Alipay also has been testing digital yuan payments and may follow in the footsteps of its largest competitor.
Increasing Interests Of Big Players
Major internet players have also jumped on board the digital yuan train, according to Yicai. The most well-known of these is Jingdong Mall, one of China’s largest e-commerce sites (also known as JD.com). The two companies, along with Alibaba’s e-commerce arm Tmall (which has also started taking the digital yuan as a payment option), control the largest chunk of China’s online retail sector.
In experimental locations last year, the Ele.me food delivery service and the Hema grocery store chain began accepting digital yuan payments. Alibaba owns both of them.
Meituan Waimai, one of China’s largest food delivery networks, has incorporated digital yuan wallet payment alternatives, according to Yicai.
Other banks will eventually be added to the nine or so financial institutions offering digital yuan wallet facilities, according to the same media site, with additional internet sectors likely to add interoperability functionalities.
