Alibaba’s Ant Group started working on Digital Yuan trials with MYBank, an online bank in which Ant has a 30% stake. It will allow some users to link their bank account with China’s Digital Yuan app. Alibaba’s Ant Group has partnered with China’s PBOC for its Digital Yuan.
According to a report by China Securities Journal, these New features shall be accessible to users using Ant Group native Alipay App. Alipay is one of the largest applications for making mobile payments and daily transactions in China.
Last year, PBOC distributed several million dollars worth of digital yuan through an app connected with six major state-owned banks. According to the statement, the group would be involved with trials and research around digital yuan, also called e-CNY.
Ant Group said that it will work along with MYBanK On the Digital Yuan (eCNY) trials and research. The company noted: “As one of the participants in the trial of the e-CNY, Ant Group’s associate MYbank will steadily advance the trial pursuant to the overall arrangement of the People’s Bank of China. Ant Group, together with Mybank, will also continue to support the research, development, and trail of PBOC’s e-CNY.”
Last year in 2020, MYbank registered a record 68% growth. Its client base jumped to 35 million last year, including small businesses and individuals.
The PBOC has been aggressively pushing the use of Digital Yuan by testing in multiple cities over the last few months. Chinese authorities want to encourage Digital Yuan to spend at shopping festivals in Shanghai and other cities.
Along with MYBank, Tecent-backed WeBank has also started pilot testing Digital Yuan transaction. PBOC has joined hands with other big players. Last month, Chinese E-commerce giant JD.com started paying salaries to some employees in Digital Yuan.
