The much-anticipated digital RMB is finally coming to the public.
On October 8, Shenzhen said that it is launching a pilot program with the People's Bank of China, the central bank, to distribute gift money in the form of digital RMB, with a total amount of 10 million yuan.
The pilot will be funded by Shenzhen's Luohu District, and a certain amount of money will be distributed to the recipients through a lottery. Residents can hold the obtained money and spend it at designated merchants in Luohu District within the validity period.
Chinese city already has civil servants receiving part of their salaries in digital RMB
This year, there has been a lot of news about China's central bank's digital RMB, which is being tested in Shenzhen, Suzhou, Xiongan and Chengdu, as well as in the future Winter Olympics scenario.
In this pilot, 50,000 lucky winners will receive a total of up to 10 million RMB in gift money, signaling that digital RMB is one step closer to being available to the public.
Each gift money is worth 200 RMB and can be spent between 18:00 on October 12 and 24:00 on October 18 at any of the 3,389 merchants in Shenzhen's Luohu District that have completed the digital RMB compatibility transformation.
From midnight on October 9, individuals in Shenzhen can apply online for digital RMB gift money.
According to the rules of the digital RMB gift money application, users can make an application with their Chinese mobile phone number and second generation ID card as long as they are located within the administrative area of Shenzhen at the time of the application.
It is important to note that although digital RMB is mainly located in M0 (cash in circulation), users are still required to have a bank account to apply. China's central bank is currently piloting digital RMB with the four major state-owned banks.
In this pilot, users are required to fill in their basic information including name, ID number and mobile phone number when making an application, as well as choose their own digital gift money bank account.
The system will then draw lots to determine the lucky winners. Once the lucky winners receive the SMS, they need to download and install the "digital RMB APP" according to the instructions, and the gift money will be distributed from 18:00 on October 12.
The 3,389 participating merchants include restaurants, supermarkets, gas stations, metro stations, department stores and other businesses. According to the rules of use of gift money, the gift money cannot be transferred to another person or redeemed in one's own bank account, and unused gift money will be collected after the expiry date.
More and more information indicates that China's central bank is expanding the application scenarios for testing the digital currency, in order to "rehearse" for its official launch in the future.
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