In Brief:
- China has forced McDonald’s to expand its digital RMB payment system before the Beijing Winter Olympics begin.
- McDonald’s is allowing consumers to use digital renminbi wallets at 270 locations in Shanghai.
- The china government is also pressuring other retailers like Nike and Visa.
China has forced American fast-food company McDonald’s to expand its digital RMB payment system in restaurants across the country before the Beijing Winter Olympics begin.
According to the announcement the china CBDC digital yuan, e-CNY, is currently being tested ahead of a full-scale launch planned and to occur around before the Beijing Winter Olympics in February 2022.
As part of the pilot scheme, McDonald’s is allowing consumers to use digital renminbi wallets at 270 locations in Shanghai. Additionally, the Chinese government wants the hamburger chain to expand the system more widely in China.
McDonald’s diminished to say if it faced pressure. “Shanghai is our pilot city and we will learn from customer feedback,” he said.
According to the financial times, the china government is urging companies to launch the payment system. It is also pressuring other retailers including Nike and Visa to follow suit.
Darrell Duffy, co-head of Electronic RMB project china said “China would have a slower-than-planned rollout at the Olympics due to the Pandemic.” He also said that it is not targeting US companies, but trying to make e-currency broad-based.
“Most retailers are under pressure and US companies are not exempt, so I always thought that big US companies would be pressured to give weight to the digital yuan,” Duffy said.
With the motive of expanding usage of Digital RMB, China Mobile also launched the Digital RMB Wallet based on the 5G message portal with the help of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China.
