Digital Yuan to be Open to Foreigners! Full Info!

Source: Forkast

Bank of China (BOC) and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), Beijing-backed commercial banks of China, unveiled the prototype of automated teller machines for foreigners to try out China’s central bank digital currency, officially called e-CNY but still colloquially known as DCEP.

Last week, in the government-hosted Digital China Summit, internet giants like JD.com and Ant Group showcased their new developments with digital yuan and cooperation with People’s Bank of China (PBOC), commercial banks also exhibited the most up-to-date DCEP-related achievements.

Among them, the most eye-catching is the prototype digital yuan ATM. 

A multi-currency DCEP machine 

The Bank of China exhibited such a prototype for the first time. Like an ordinary ATM, it allowed users to exchange foreign currencies for digital yuan. The machine will automatically create a bank card-like DCEP hardware wallet with the saving in the card showing in an ink screen on the DCEP hardware wallet card. Based on the shape and also the feature it has, PBOC also called it visualization chip wallet.

DCEP stands for “Digital Currency, Electronic Payment” — the original name for China’s digital currency project.

According to the reporting from Yicai, an elite financial publication based in Shanghai, the DCEP ATM supports about 17 different countries’ currencies. In the future, foreigners holding passports will be able to use this service and get a visualization chip wallet. The wallet will allow foreigners to pay in all kinds of shopping scenarios, including shopping malls, supermarkets, vending machines and transportation. China watchers say this invention aims for the 2022 winter Olympic games in Beijing, that travelers from all over the world will pour into Beijing and have payment convenience through the DCEP chip wallet.

Bank of China is not the only bank focusing on such digital yuan ATM prototypes.

Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) is also testing similar services. In the Digital China Summit, ICBC showcased a DCEP intelligent terminal.

According to coverage from 21 Jingji, a Shanghai-based finance media, the DCEP intelligent terminal allows people to deposit cash into their digital yuan bank account and is also able to issue digital yuan chip wallets from the terminal. ICBC also supported foreign currencies exchanges services but did not give more details on this.

Digital yuan to provide convenience to travelers

Even though China might be the leading country in the world for digital payments, especially with cashless mobile payment services like Alipay and WeChat Pay already ubiquitous among Chinese citizens, foreigners cannot take advantage of the digital payment conveniences when traveling around China.

To use Alipay, owned by Alibaba Group and WeChat pay owned by Tencent, users are required to link their payment account to a local bank card and also a Chinese phone number. If a traveler plans to spend just a week or two in China, opening a bank account will likely be too much effort. In addition, to have a Chinese phone number always means to register with identification numbers, which adds another layer of difficulties.

However, the DCEP digital yuan is different. Issued by PBOC, e-CNY should be regarded as the same as fiat currency in China. Utilizing a digital yuan chip wallet does not need to link to any other bank account.

With over seven rounds of large-scale DCEP testing in major cities across China, the DCEP digital yuan payment method is already being accepted by tens of thousands of convenience stores, shopping malls and supermarkets, and the number is growing.