Chinese Bank Opened Then Closed An Electronic Wallet

China’s largest state-owned banks have started testing the “electronic wallet” component of the People’s Bank of China’s “digital yuan” project and the tests are being conducted in cities including Shenzhen, which borders Hong Kong.  

The municipal government of Shenzhen said it would cooperate in efforts to test the system for different applications to transfer money and make payments.   Then they disabled it after the feature gained widespread attention.

China Construction Bank (CCB), one of the big-four state-owned commercial banks, started to notice that a central bank digital currency wallet feature was available inside the bank’s mobile app. By searching “digital currency” in Chinese, users of the app could navigate to the digital yuan wallet service and further activate it by registering with a mobile phone number associated with their bank accounts at CCB.

It is unclear when CCB opened up the service, but news of the feature quickly spread among the Chinese crypto-currency community and media. Some users had managed to make small amounts of transactions by linking their CCB bank accounts with the wallet.

The banking giant has now disabled the feature from public users. Searching for the same term inside CCB’s mobile app now leads to a message that says: “This function is not yet officially available to the public. Please wait patiently.”

Nonetheless, the brief availability of the wallet shows the Chinese commercial bank has been working towards adoption for the digital yuan initiative, also known as DCEP, which is led by the People’s Bank of China (PBoC). The wallet’s interface seen by CoinDesk showed each user that had activated the service was assigned to a specific wallet ID, which could be used to make transactions between the wallet and users’ CCB bank accounts. In addition, users could also send and receive digital yuan to each other by putting in either their unique wallet ID addresses or an associated mobile phone number.

Under the direction of the PBoC, the big-four Chinese state-owned commercial banks are developing their respective digital yuan wallets and running internal tests with selected users and merchants in the country.

It remains to be seen when these banks will officially open up the services to the public and whether the wallets will enable more applications that can use the digital currency. The PBoC is also working with DiDi Chuxing and other internet-based services to apply digital yuan into more payment scenarios.

The Chinese government previously explained that the country’s four major state-run banks had started large-scale internal testing of the digital renminbi wallet. Besides China Construction Bank, Bank of China, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, and Agricultural Bank of China are piloting the digital renminbi with the central bank in major cities.

Trials are set to begin in even more cities, including Beijing, Hong Kong and Macau. The digital yuan will also be tested at the 2022 Winter Olympics games in Beijing. CCTV reported on Thursday that in Suzhou, some government officials have received part of their salaries in digital currency.

The new development represents another major milestone in China’s progress in adopting the digital yuan and comes in line with a key goal set by China’s central bank, the People’s Bank of China. Last month the PBoC reportedly said that China should actively promote the development of the digital yuan as part of its top priorities for the second half of 2020.

Central Banking:        Bitcoin:    Coindesk:      Deccan Chronicle:        Coin Telegraph:

You Might Also Read:

The Future Of Cash (£):

Is The US Heading Toward A Cashless Economy Via Blockchain?:

 

 

« Getting A Cyber Security Job
Cyber Security Training For Home & Mobile Working »

CyberSecurity Jobsite
Check Point

Directory of Suppliers

TÜV SÜD Academy UK

TÜV SÜD Academy UK

TÜV SÜD offers expert-led cybersecurity training to help organisations safeguard their operations and data.

Resecurity

Resecurity

Resecurity is a cybersecurity company that delivers a unified platform for endpoint protection, risk management, and cyber threat intelligence.

Clayden Law

Clayden Law

Clayden Law advise global businesses that buy and sell technology products and services. We are experts in information technology, data privacy and cybersecurity law.

XYPRO Technology

XYPRO Technology

XYPRO is the market leader in HPE Non-Stop Security, Risk Management and Compliance.

Jooble

Jooble

Jooble is a job search aggregator operating in 71 countries worldwide. We simplify the job search process by displaying active job ads from major job boards and career sites across the internet.

Immersive

Immersive

Immersive unifies Cyber Drills, Exercises, Sims, Ranges, and Training into one single, adaptive platform. One Platform. Total Cyber Resilience.

Securden

Securden

Securden provide an all-in-one Platform for Next-Gen Privileged Access Governance, helping you to prevent identity thefts, malware propagation, cyber attacks, and insider exploitation.

01 Communique Laboratory

01 Communique Laboratory

01 Communique Laboratory is an innovation leader in the new realm of Post-Quantum Cyber Security.

Cyber Griffin

Cyber Griffin

Founded by the City of London Police in 2017, Cyber Griffin is an initiative that supports businesses and individuals in the Square Mile to protect themselves from cyber crime.

MalwareFox

MalwareFox

MalwareFox is an advanced, yet simple-to-use anti-malware solution for Windows computers. We provide aggressive detection capabilities and an effective malware removal tool to keep your systems safe.

Reliance Cyber

Reliance Cyber

Reliance Cyber (formerly Reliance ACSN) help to monitor and manage your organisation’s security infrastructure 24/7, so you can make sure all threats and issues are dealt with.

Redsquid

Redsquid

At Redsquid we are all about making a difference to our customers with the use of technology, as an innovative provider of solutions within IoT, Cyber security, ICT, Data Connectivity & Voice.

BlackFog

BlackFog

BlackFog is a leader in device data privacy, data security and ransomware prevention. Our behavioral analysis and anti data exfiltration technology stops hackers before they even get started.

Accops Systems

Accops Systems

Accops enables secure and instant remote access to business applications from any device and network, ensuring compliant enterprise mobility.

ThreatFabric

ThreatFabric

ThreatFabric integrates industry-leading threat intel, behavioral analytics, advanced device fingerprinting and over 10.000 adaptive fraud indicators.

Infoline Tec Group Berhad

Infoline Tec Group Berhad

Infoline Tec Group Berhad is principally involved in providing IT infrastructure solutions, cybersecurity service provider and solutions, managed IT and other IT services.

Chorology

Chorology

Chorology is a leading provider of intelligently automated, data compliance and posture enforcement solutions.

Idenhaus Consulting

Idenhaus Consulting

Idenhaus specializes in Cybersecurity and Identity Management (IAM) Consulting.

Whiteswan Identity Security

Whiteswan Identity Security

At Whiteswan, we are committed to protecting the digital landscapes of modern enterprises with adaptive, identity-first security solutions that ensure trust, compliance, and resilience.

BeckTek

BeckTek

BeckTek specialize in IT Cyber Security & Support, helping clients run their businesses faster, easier and more profitably.

Uninets

Uninets

UniNets mission is to provide IT professionals with high-quality, accessible, and relevant e-learning courses that enable them to stay ahead of the curve in their industry.