Standard Chartered Bank (China) has become one of the first foreign banks to participate in China’s central bank digital currency (CBDC) pilot. The bank explained that as an international bank rooted in the Chinese market for 165 years, Standard Chartered is optimistic about the development prospects of the digital yuan.

Standard Chartered Participates in Digital Yuan Pilot

Standard Chartered Bank (China) Ltd. announced Monday that it has started offering digital yuan exchange services to customers and become one of the first foreign banks to participate in China’s central bank digital currency (CBDC), digital renminbi (RMB), business pilot. Standard Chartered is one of the oldest and most established foreign banks in China. Zhang Xiaolei, CEO of Standard Chartered Bank (China), commented:

We are very pleased to participate in the pilot of digital RMB business as one of the first foreign banks.

The bank explained that it will access the digital renminbi interconnection platform through City Bank Clearing Services. People’s Bank of China (PBOC) Governor Yi Gang disclosed in July that transactions utilizing China’s central bank digital currency, also called e-CNY, reached 1.8 trillion yuan ($250 billion) at the end of June.

Zhang explained that as an international bank rooted in the Chinese market for 165 years, Standard Chartered is optimistic about the development prospects of the digital yuan. The executive further shared that the bank anticipates ongoing expansion of China’s CBDC application scenarios, including cross-border merchant payments, trade financing, and supply chain financing.

China is one of the first countries in the world to study central bank digital currency and conduct large-scale pilot projects. Since the PBOC, the country’s central bank, launched its digital renminbi pilot, it has continually expanded the scope of the pilot. Currently, there are 26 digital yuan pilot areas across China.

Standard Chartered Bank has been actively participating in the construction of the digital yuan ecosystem and exploring innovative application scenarios for the Chinese central bank digital currency, the bank detailed. In September last year, Standard Chartered Hong Kong participated in the “Multilateral Central Bank Digital Currency Bridge” proof-of-concept research project aimed at providing cross-border payment settlement services for real transactions of real companies through the currency bridge’s infrastructure.

What do you think about Standard Chartered Bank participating in the digital yuan pilot and offering exchange services for China’s central bank digital currency? Let us know in the comments section below.