Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) and telecommunications services giant China Mobile have teamed up to launch a digital yuan hard wallet that does not require a mobile network.
This means, digital yuan (e-CNY) transactions are not impossible to happen without the need for internet, just use a wallet, SIM Pay with near-field communication (NFC) technology.
For information, SIM Pay is a super-SIM card, while NFC is a technology already commonly used in public transport and some credit cards, as well as allowing devices to communicate wirelessly with a distance of just a few centimeters.
The presence of mobile phones equipped with SIM PAY can carry out the exchange of information related to e-CNY through touch with each other.
For the record, e-CNY or also known as e-RMB is issued by the People’s Bank of China.
So far, e-CNY has been distributed to a large group of Chinese consumers in an initial launch starting last year.
The comprehensive launch is expected to take place in February during the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.
According to China Mobile Jiangsu deputy general manager Guan Yiminhai so far they have successfully made client-to-client (C2C) e-CNY transfer in November 2022, client-to-business (C2B) in February this year. While the trial for 1,000 e-CNY SIM cards began in July.