India and many countries, are expanding central bank digital currency (CBDC) trials, hoping to integrate then with their existing financial systems. Reserve Bank of India has propose the expansion of support for the digital rupee CBDC within the retail ecosystem beyond banks.
In the coming days, RBI is expect to start circulating the digital rupee via payment system operators who are not part of the banking system.
The detail was disclose in a statement by RBI Chief General Manager Yogesh Dayal.
As of now, India’s CBDC distribution was being conduct by banks that are part of its trials.
Going forward, RBI is likely to allow platforms like Google Pay and PhonePe also to distribute the digital rupee in the retail ecosystem.
Yogesh Dayal said in a statement issue by the RBI :
“CBDC pilots in the retail and wholesale segments are underway with more use-cases and more participating banks. Continuing with this approach, it is proposed to make CBDC-retail accessible to a broader segment of users in a sustained manner, by enabling non-bank payment system operators to offer CBDC wallets,”
CBDCs are a virtual representation of the fiat currency of India.
Built on blockchain networks, they work like cryptocurrencies but are issue by a central bank.
By CBDCs, people can process quick payments of big amounts and all the transaction history will be store in a permanent, unchangeable format.
As per official statement :
“This is expect to enhance access and expand choices available to users apart from testing the resiliency of the CBDC platform to handle multi-channel transactions. Necessary changes will be made to the system to facilitate this,”.
Since December 2022, RBI has clock an impressive feat in conducting research and development around the digital rupee.
The CBDC is currently in an advance trial phase in India.
In February 2024, RBI had talk about its plans to experiment with offline solutions to drive the adoption of CBDC in those parts of India that are not as well connect to the Internet as develop cities.
In 2023, State Bank of India introduce UPI interoperability with the digital rupee.
Canara Bank also roll out a similar product.
