Suara Malaysia
ADVERTISEMENTFly London from Kuala LumpurFly London from Kuala Lumpur
Tuesday, November 5, 2024
More
    ADVERTISEMENTFly London from Kuala LumpurFly London from Kuala Lumpur
    HomeTechIndia cenbank, banks plan new features to boost digital currency transactions -...

    India cenbank, banks plan new features to boost digital currency transactions – sources

    -

    Fly AirAsia from Kuala Lumpur

    RBI Working to Introduce New Features to Popularize India’s CBDC

    MUMBAI (Reuters) – The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is working with lenders to introduce new features to popularise the central bank digital currency (CBDC), the so-called e-rupee, according to six people familiar with the matter.

    Retail CBDC transactions are averaging close to 18,000 a day, way short of the RBI’s one million-a-day target by 2023 end.

    The features include allowing digital rupee transactions when a customer is offline and linking the e-rupee to India’s popular Unified Payments Interface (UPI), three of the people quoted above said.

    UPI is an instant real-time payments system that allows users to transfer money across multiple banks without disclosing bank account details.

    The sources declined to be identified as they are not authorised to speak to the media. The RBI did not respond to an email seeking comment.

    The RBI has been urging banks to make the e-rupee inter-operable with UPI through a QR code, said two of the bankers quoted above.

    The interoperability will allow payments to flow via already well-distributed UPI QRs, they said.

    The facility, announced in June, has been activated by large banks, including State Bank of India, the country’s largest lender.

    “Interoperability of UPI QR Code with digital rupee will remove friction … but this will not drive adoption unless CBDC payments are incentivised,” said Sharat Chandra, co-founder of India Blockchain Forum, an industry collective.

    The RBI and banks are also discussing ways to allow the use of e-rupee when a customer and a merchant are offline, according to two sources involved in the pilot project.

    ALSO READ:  Review: 'F1 23' – Probably the closest you'll get to racing on an F1 circuit

    While the RBI is examining technology proposals, it hasn’t approved any of them, said the source familiar with the matter.

    Top private lender HDFC Bank is working with a technology firm IDEMIA to build a version of offline CBDC transactions for feature phones, according to two people aware of the plans.

    HDFC Bank declined to comment.

    CBDC’s new and unique use cases such as its offline mode would facilitate transactions without network connectivity, said Akhil Handa, a top executive at Bank of Baroda.

    “As new features get added, a gradual pickup in retail CBDC transaction volumes will follow,” said Handa.

    (Reporting by Jaspreet Kalra, Siddhi Nayak; Editing by Dhanya Ann Thoppil)



    Credit: The Star : Tech Feed

    Suara
    Suarahttps://www.suara.my
    Tech enthusiast turning dreams into reality, one byte at a time 🚀

    Related articles

    ADVERTISEMENTFly London from Kuala Lumpur

    Subscribe to Newsletter

    To be updated with all the latest news, offers and special announcements.

    Latest posts