China signs up 26 financial institutions to digital yuan cross-border payment platform

SHANGHAI, June 16 (Reuters) – China’s digital yuan operation centre signed direct participant agreements with 26 financial institutions in Shanghai on Tuesday, aiming to expand low-cost, efficient cross-border payments and advance global adoption of the Chinese currency.

• The international operation centre of the digital yuan was established and managed by the People’s Bank of China.

• The agreement will allow participants to join the Cross-border e-CNY Transfer Services, or CBETS, an integrated cross-border settlement platform that supports round-the-clock digital payment links with foreign central banks and overseas financial institutions.

• “Fintech is fundamentally reshaping the underlying logic of cross-border payments and providing new momentum and pathways for them,” Jean Lu, CEO of Standard Chartered Bank (China), said in a press release.

• “An efficient, convenient, and compliant cross-border payment experience will further enhance the international use of the yuan,” Lu said.

• Standard Chartered Bank (China) said it was one of the first foreign banks to sign and join CBETS.

• China’s central bank is making a broad push to increase the use of digital yuan at home and abroad, several industry sources told Reuters, setting Beijing on a different – and potentially competing – path from the United States in shaping the future of money.

• China granted approval to a dozen additional banks to handle its digital yuan in March, sources told Reuters, as Beijing pushes to accelerate use of the digital currency.

(Reporting by Shanghai NewsroomEditing by Mark Potter)