Digital RMB

The app of China Construction Bank, one of China's four state-owned banks, has launched a digital currency wallet, which includes a "digital wallet top-up" and "digital currency" sub-menu.

China's central bank digital currency testing and preparations are moving forward, and in Suzhou, one of the pilot regions, some government workers are already receiving part of their salaries in the form of digital RMB, according to CCTV.

Ant Group said in its IPO prospectus that it is participating in research and development trials of digital RMB, adding that there is no timetable for the official launch of digital RMB and that it is difficult to assess the impact of such work on the company's business, financial condition and results of operations.

Sun Guofeng, director of the Monetary Policy Department of the People's Bank of China, the central bank, said on August 25 that digital RMB is still in the internal closed pilot testing phase and has not yet been officially launched, with no specific timetable.

If China's central bank's digital RMB offering is successful, it will likely have an impact on the current Chinese mobile payment landscape. So, will Alipay and WeChat Pay be eliminated?

A recent rumor that Shenzhen has started using digital currency in second-hand housing transactions has been widely spread on WeChat. In response, the People's Bank of China - China's central bank - has denied it.

In a program broadcast on August 16, state-owned television station CCTV said that China's digital currency is equivalent to "electronic RMB cash" and that users can use it without a signal on their mobile phones, as long as they have a digital currency wallet.

Several sources from state-owned banks said they are testing digital wallet applications on a large scale in Shenzhen and other places in preparation for the official landing of China's digital currency, according to 21jingji.com.

China is speeding up the development of a  fiat digital currency system as the latest reports showed its central bank if working with a number of local technology companies on this front.

The WeChat, Alipay, and even bank credit cards that we use every day can be described as a digital currency in the broad sense. So what is different about PBOC's digital currency offering?