Singapore-Based DBS Launches Digital Yuan Merchant Collection Solution in China

DBS has launched a digital yuan (e-CNY) merchant collection solution and completed its first e-CNY transaction for a client.

The Singapore-headquartered financial services group’s DBS China can now help its corporate clients collect payments in e-CNY, which is China’s central bank digital currency (CBDC), with automated settlement, DBS said in a Wednesday (July 5) press release.

“By seamlessly integrating a CBDC collection and settlement method into our clients’ existing payment systems, this will help position their business for a digital future where consumers in China use e-CNY for their daily activities,” DBS Bank (China) CEO Ginger Cheng said in the release. “This showcases our dual commitment of making banking joyful for our clients while actively supporting the development of China’s financial market innovation.”

With this solution, businesses will benefit from a seamless and efficient method to collect a new form of digital money, the ability to receive payments digitally in regions with limited internet connectivity, and the ability to provide consolidated merchant reports with itemized e-CNY transactions for seamless reconciliation, according to the release.

This will allow businesses to better serve consumers at a time when the e-CNY is accepted in 26 cities and 17 provinces in China and there are 13.6 billion e-CNY in circulation, the release said.

“The e-CNY merchant collection solution strengthens DBS’ position as an innovator in digital payment solutions and marks yet another milestone in our vision of enabling instant and frictionless 24/7 payments for our customers,” DBS Bank Group Head of Global Transaction Services Lim Soon Chong said in the release. “We look forward to building on this launch to explore new digital payment solutions, such as cross-border CBDC payments.”

China’s central bank is among the central banks of over 100 countries around the world that have been undertaking a variety of investigative programs meant to research the technical feasibility of launching their own sovereign, virtual currencies backed by a federal banking system.

In January, it enabled Android users to make offline payments using digital yuan, so they can make payments from their smartphone even if the device has no power or no internet connection.