Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com demonstrated the technology to use the country's digital currency e-CNY for payroll and payments at the 4th Digital China Construction Summit on April 25, signaling that e-CNY is one step closer to entering people's daily lives.
JD.com has been using e-CNY since January to pay some of its employees in Shanghai, Shenzhen, Chengdu, Changsha, and Xi'an, according to the company.
Employees can deposit their e-CNY paychecks to their personal bank cards, or use them at e-CNY offline scenes in the corresponding cities, as well as when purchasing goods from JD.com.
JD.com has used e-CNY to pay two suppliers, UNIS Digital and a subsidiary of home appliance giant Haier, since January, and the former is an interbank settlement for e-CNY.
Yiqifu, the corporate procurement scenario solution offered by JD.com, has also supported payments using e-CNY.
JD.com says it joined the e-CNY project development and wallet ecology building team in 2020, and has provided technical and service support for e-CNY draws in Suzhou, Beijing and Chengdu.
JD.com said it was one of the first technology companies to launch an e-CNY pilot with People's Bank of China's Digital Currency Research Institution.
The e-CNY pilot areas include Shenzhen, Suzhou, Xiongan New Area, Chengdu, Beijing Winter Olympic Stadium, Shanghai, Hainan, Changsha, Xi'an, Qingdao and Dalian.
JD.com Q4 revenue up 31% to $34.4 billion, beating expectations