WeBank, the Tencent-backed private Chinese neobank, and Ant Financial-backed MYbank will be the first private banks to join China’s digital yuan pilot.
It has been reported that MYbank and WeBank will help the People’s Bank of China (PBoC) extend its user exposure in the ongoing pilots of its central bank digital currency, the digital yuan.
However, MYbank’s service, as part of the integration, will soon be introduced to the PBoC’s digital yuan app.
The report said that the e-wallets by MYbank and WeBank will have exactly the same functions as those from the six state-owned lenders in the trial. As previously reported, the PBoC has been collaborating with state-owned banks like the Bank of China, China Construction Bank, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, and the Agricultural Bank of China on the project.
A spokesperson for MYbank said:
“The bank will steadily advance the trial pursuant to the overall arrangement of the PBoC.”
Thus, WeBank has been actively experimenting with blockchain technology in recent years, becoming one of the world’s biggest blockchain patent filers in 2019. Chinese internet giant Tencent is reportedly the biggest stakeholder in WeBank, owning a 30% stake.
Source: Cointelegraph