Today, China has begun a full-scale pilot of its digital yuan on the entire Beijing subway system and a single Suzhou metro line. Applying the digital currency to a city-wide public transport network marks a major step forward for the country’s central bank digital currency (CBDC) efforts.
The decision to begin trialing the digital RMB on metro systems will be a good test of the digital currency’s current robustness and usability. Metro payment is typically a low-value, high-frequency payment application scenario, covering a large number of people.
In Beijing, the service is currently only available to passengers who bank with ICBC, which is a state-owned bank. Within their ICBC wallet, users can open a sub-wallet with the Yitongxing app, Beijing’s official city transit app.
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