BNP Paribas, a French bank, has taken steps to promote the utilization of China’s digital yuan, as reported by the South China Morning Post (SCMP) on Friday. This includes a linking of wallets to bank accounts.
Corporate clients of BNP Paribas will be able to access China’s central bank digital currency (CBDC) – also known as “e-CNY” – via a connection to the Bank of China’s (BOC) system.
Eight banks have been given the go-ahead to conduct digital currency operations in China, with BOC being one of them.
BNP Paribas stated in a statement, as reported by the South China Morning Post (SCMP), that the system will link customers’ “digital yuan wallet to their bank accounts” to offer “efficient, real-time and convenient” utilization of the Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC).
The bank stated that it would be investigating the application of a CBDC for smart contracts, supply chain finance, and international money transfers.
At press time, BNP Paribas had not provided a response to the request for comment.
The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) announced in January that 0.13% of the total cash in circulation is the digital yuan, reflecting China’s advanced status among CBDC projects in major economies. The testing phase of the digital yuan began in 2020.
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