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The Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) pilot is gaining pace as banks have stepped up campaigns for onboarding customers and are getting good response from urbanites, say bankers.
The pilot is now in the second phase and banks, after covering Mumbai, New Delhi, Bengaluru, Bhubaneshwar, and Chandigarh, are now reaching out to select customers in Hyderabad, Indore, Kochi, Lucknow, Patna and Shimla, Goa, and Guwahati along with some Tier-II locations such as Varanasi, by sending emails and text messages asking customers to enroll.
Also read: e-Re and you: What you should know
“The latest numbers show that the pilot for retail transactions using e-Re has already attracted over one million users and 262,000 merchants. Recently, RBI has called on banks to prepare for one million transactions a day using CBDC by the end of the year,’‘ Bibekananda Panda, Senior Economist, State Bank of India told businessline.
Recently, the most important development is e-Re’s interoperability with the UPI/QR code, which is going to bring massive success to retail CBDC use, he said, adding, “The facility of enabling the usage of e-Re through QR codes of the UPI network for transactions will boost e-Re transactions and promote interoperability..’‘
While some banks are allowing customers to download the app, some are asking customers to notify them of their interest and reaching out to them later.
Top banks
State Bank of India (SBI) and HDFC Bank are among the top banks which are actively seeking customers to enroll for the pilot.
“There has been significant traction on the CBDC pilot and retail customers and merchants from urban markets are showing interest,’‘ a senior SBI official said. The exact numbers are expected to be shared by banks after the announcement of first quarter numbers.
HDFC Bank onboarded over 1 lakh customers and 1.7 lakh merchants under the CBDC pilot program and also launched a UPI QR code interoperable with the digital currency. This code allows HDFC Bank merchants who were onboarded on the bank’s CBDC platform, to accept payments from their customers in the form of Digital Rupee currency, boosting usage of CBDC in day-to-day transactions.
ICICI Bank has been sending mails and texts to select customers asking them to download the app on their mobile to transact digital currency.
Axis Bank has asked interested customers to notify on its portal so it can connect to them depending on the nature of the pilot and other requirements.
Also read: CBDC: A calibrated approach needed
Banks are pushing it for a variety of reasons. “Even though e-Re is presently allowed in settlement of secondary market transactions in G-Secs, banks are optimist that CBDC can be used for settlements in the primary G-Sec market, business to government (B2G), and personal to government (P2G) transactions,’‘ Panda said.
CBDC, a legal tender issued by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), is a form of digital token that represents the Indian rupee. It offers similar features to physical cash such as trust, safety, and settlement finality.
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