Chinese banks have joined a government initiative to add support for payments made using China’s central bank digital currency (CBDC) to physical state-issued social security cards, according to NFC World.
Chinese residents can already make payments with the card — which also serves as an identity certificate and information record — across a range of use cases including urban transport and medical fees, but the country’s Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security now plans to add a function to the card that will enable holders to opt to make payments with the digital yuan.
“Commercial banks have begun to explore the layout of ‘social security card + digital renminbi’,” Chinese news outlet Economic Daily reports.
Also, The People’s Bank of China (PBoC) has launched an updated app, allowing Android phone users to access their SIM cards as offline CBDC wallets, enabling users to make payments with their phones even when they are powered down or have no network connection, according to cryptonews.com
To use this wallet, users need to obtain a „super SIM card” from their carriers and follow specific steps to enable the wallet on their phones. The new innovation makes use of hardware embedded on SIM cards, rather than only on the handsets. At present the innovation is only available to users of Android phones with NFC functionality.
„With nearly 20% of Chinese mobile users owning 2G devices, the potential of this SIM card wallet feature goes beyond just smartphone users, reaching a wider demographic. This innovation paves the way for a more inclusive digital payment ecosystem.” says Conrad Kraft, Executive Director of Digital Euro Association.
Banking 4.0 – „how was the experience for you”
„So many people are coming here to Bucharest, people that I see and interact on linkedin and now I get the change to meet them in person. It was like being to the Football World Cup but this was the World Cup on linkedin in payments and open banking.”
Many more interesting quotes in the video below:
