- China’s Minsheng Bank has partnered with e-commerce giant JD.com to launch digital CNY-powered payment service.
- Customers in the CBDC pilot zone can link bank-issued digital wallets to JD accounts for CBDC payments.
- Minsheng offers discounts and incentives for linking wallets, showcasing the growing participation of major Chinese banks in the digital yuan pilot.
China Minsheng Banking Corporation, also known as Minsheng Bank, has partnered with CBDC-focused e-commerce giant JD.com to launch a digital CNY-powered payment service.
According to Shzhidao (via Sohu), Minsheng customers in the CBDC pilot zone can now link their bank-issued digital wallets to their JD accounts and use the platform to make CBDC payments.
JD is the Chinese version of Amazon. Since the pilot’s inception, the platform has been one of the Central People’s Bank of China’s (PBoC) closest business partners.
To encourage adoption, Minsheng announced that customers who link their wallets to their JD accounts would receive a one-time discount coupon worth more than $4 on digital yuan token purchases.
Customers who share information about the promotional event on social media platforms may be eligible for an additional 88 yuan (approximately $12.30) e-CNY coupon.
In China, the digit 8 is considered lucky.
China Minsheng: CBDC Moves by Banks
Minsheng’s move suggests that more major Chinese banks are joining the country’s rapidly expanding digital yuan pilot.
The China Minsheng Banking Corporation, as it is officially known, was founded in 1996.
Until recently, the majority of the banks involved in the pilot were state-owned, such as the Bank of China and the Postal Savings Bank of China.
However, Minsheng is an outlier in this regard. It was China’s first bank that was majority owned by private investors.
Over the years, the bank has strongly emphasised lending to small and medium-sized businesses. Yet, this is not Minsheng’s first foray into the e-CNY arena.
Previously, the bank launched a digital yuan “salary service” that allows businesses to “directly” transfer funds to “corporate accounts” or pay their employees using the token.
It has also pioneered a “one-click wallet check” feature that allows customers to “view and manage” multiple traditional accounts and digital yuan wallets.
The bank also stated that it would “continue to add” various “applications for the digital yuan” “in the future.”
The Chinese subsidiary of Singaporean bank DBS announced the launch of e-CNY solutions in early July.
In addition, several leading Chinese telecom providers have indicated a willingness to accelerate the rollout of digital yuan-related services following the PBOC’s announcement of SIM card–compatible offline wallets.
