The leading social media messaging app in China has reportedly enabled digital yuan (s-CNY) payments on its platform. The service will be available in all 23 regions, including Shanghai and Beijing, where China’s digital yuan is being tested.
Masseur indicated at the beginning of the year that it was planning to add digital yuan payments.
The Digital Yuan is China’s Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) and is currently in its testing phase and WeChat is the largest massage application in China, which will allow people in regions where digital currency to transact using CBDC is being tested. Adding CBDC support to an app with over a billion users will certainly boost the distribution of CBDCs.
WeChat users must apply for accounts with Tencent’s WeBank to be allowed to use the digital yuan.
Adoption of Digital Yuan in China
In addition to WeChat, Alipay, which is WeChat’s main competitor in China, has also indicated that it is planning to add digital yuan payments. Alipay began exploring potential e-CNY adoption in 2021.
An analyst at consultancy Trivium China, called Linghao Bao, argued that WeChat and Alipay have a large commitment from most Chinese residents and, as a result, the need to collaborate with the two social media messaging giants in popularizing the central bank. Will have to find a way. Digital Yuan.
China is currently well ahead of all other countries that have announced their intention to explore CBDCs, including the United Kingdom, Jamaica, Canada, Israel, Nigeria, Kenya, and the United States.
More than 140 million Chinese residents have already opened digital yuan wallets, with 10 million holding corporate accounts.