Tourists who are considering a trip to the People’s Republic of China now have the option to preload their digital yuan wallets using Visa and Mastercard, as the country continues to enhance the mobile app underpinning its central bank digital currency (CBDC) trial.
The e-CNY app, still in its test phase, is accessible to iOS and China-based Google Play Store users. It caters to individual consumers, granting them the ability to establish digital yuan wallets for utilizing e-CNY.
The most recent update to the iOS app, released on Sept. 22, version 1.1.1, now allows top-up services with international card options. Several local Chinese media outlets have reported that this latest e-CNY app version aligns with the commencement of the Asian Games. China has actively tested the digital yuan as a payment alternative for foreign visitors. Yicai noted that the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics marked the onset of the CBDC trial being available to tourists for transactions with local vendors using e-CNY.
Incoming tourists can reportedly utilize their international mobile numbers to register, open e-CNY wallets, and avail the wallet recharge feature, which now accommodates Visa and Mastercard payments.
As recently highlighted by Cointelegraph, China is advancing efforts to establish the digital yuan as a universally available payment alternative for all retail payment contexts, setting the stage for the digital yuan to become a prevalent payment means in China among retail consumers and vendors.
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