China’s Food Delivery Giant Meituan To Test Digital Yuan

Food delivery service giant Meituan Dianping will test China’s digital yuan, according to a Bloomberg report citing unnamed sources who have knowledge of the matter.

The Tencent-backed tech company joins ride-hailing company Didi Chuxing, which announced last week that it would assist the People’s Bank of China in testing the virtual currency, otherwise referred to as Digital Currency Electronic Payment or DCEP.

The details of the partnership have not been finalized, according to the news outlet’s sources.

Former Bank of China President Li Lihui said in May that the launch of a digital yuan could happen soon, according to a report, if four components are met: higher efficiency, lower transaction costs, enough economic scale with commercial value, and being accepted as legitimate.

The testing comes at an opportune time, as consumers are increasingly opting to use virtual and contactless payments in response to coronavirus contagion fears. As PYMNTS reported, 46 percent of consumers around the world now say their go-to cards have contactless options.

Nineteen other companies are reportedly trialing the digital currency, including Starbucks, McDonald’s and Subway, as well as local businesses in the Xiong’an New Area region, and the Agricultural Bank of China’s app also features the DCEP.

Meanwhile, it was recently reported that Chinese officials are debating the development of an “East Asia digital currency,” which would include a digital basket comprised of the Chinese yuan, Japanese yen, Hong Kong dollar and the South Korean won. The plan would create a cross-border payment network and unite the region, according to the report.