DBS is the first foreign bank in China to embed the CBDC into its merchant payments portfolio, processing transactions and providing consolidated merchant reports with itemised e-CNY transactions via its business banking platform DBS Ideal.

Ginger Cheng, CEO of DBS Bank (China), says: “We received strong interest from several clients for the solution since its launch, and we are pleased to have completed the first e-CNY collection for a client – a catering company in Shenzhen. 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.”

e-CNY usage in China has grown steadily since its pilot launch in April 2020. As of December 2022, there were over 13.6 billion e-CNY in circulation. The CBDC is currently accepted across 26 cities and 17 provinces in China, with adoption expected to grow further as the programme gradually expands to more regions.