Despite the hype around the Chinese currency one day becoming the dominant global tender, recent data shows that its penetration in the United States is negligible.
According to the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) recent data shows that RMB adoption by the United States remains relatively flat. Compared to May 2014, the United States experienced a 10.3 percent increase in RMB payments, but compared to last year, May 2015, the figures showed a minor decline of 1.6 percent.
In May 2016, the United States represented 10.5 percent of all offshore RMB payments by value, making the United States number four in the world, excluding China and Hong Kong.
The Long March
The United Kingdom stays in the top position with 23 percent followed by Singapore and Taiwan. Naturally however China and Hong Kong still handled almost 75 percent of all RMB payments.
«Over time, we expect the United States to further strengthen its position on the RMB, with the recent creation of the U.S. RMB Trading and Clearing Working Group,» said Astrid Thorsen, Head of Business Intelligence Solutions, SWIFT.
Canadian Bridgehead
The main objective of this working group is to identify, evaluate, and recommend opportunities to develop and expand the trading, clearing, and settlement of RMB in the United States.
The establishment of New York as a RMB trading center would represent a significant development for the city, which would also reinforce North America’s position currently covered by the RMB offshore centre located in Toronto.
In May 2016, the RMB held its position as the sixth ranked global payments currency by value with a share of 1.9 percent.
