China’s digital yuan is reportedly gaining limited traction amongst the mainland public despite the continued national push by Beijing.
The digital yuan has garnered «little interest», according to a «Bloomberg» report that reviewed multiple local users who preferred existing mobile payment platforms by Ant and Tencent.
Issues ranging from financial privacy to compatibility with other platforms were cited as reasons for lackluster feedback.
Digital Yuan Qualms
According to one response, the digital yuan lacked the compatibility that incumbent payment platforms had with other app-based services, adding that discounts would not be sufficient to win conversion.
Another response cited privacy as a major concern, expressing fears over potential monitoring of all payments.
CBDC Race
Despite the lack of public interest, China remains ahead of its peers with regard to the development of its central bank digital currency (CBDC).
Others are making their own efforts to close the gap such as the U.S. with the recent launch of a private sector tie-up between Accenture and other entities to launch pilot programs aimed at providing data for policymakers to develop a digital dollar, according to a «Reuters» report.
Progress was also being made in the electric yen’s development with central banking official Kazushige Kamiyama recently saying that «the [Bank of Japan] isn’t behind» in the study of a digital currency.
