Xinhua News Agency: The digital RMB red envelope pilot program has come to an end. What is the experience like and what are the results?

Xinhua News Agency reporters Wu Yu and Wu Yanting

The Shenzhen digital RMB red envelope pilot, which lasted for nearly a week, has successfully concluded. Through the personal testing of the "lucky ones", the digital RMB has finally unveiled its "mystery". What is the payment experience of the digital RMB? How is the acceptance of consumers and merchants? What can we glimpse into the "true face" of the digital RMB from this pilot activity?

The digital RMB testing has ended, what is the payment experience like?

At 21:05 on the 18th, with a crisp "beep" sound from the barcode scanner in the cashier's hand, Shenzhen citizen Ms. Li spent the last 59 yuan in her digital RMB wallet at a supermarket in Luohu District.

"I felt a little reluctant when I spent all my digital RMB." Ms. Li told reporters that she used digital RMB to buy drinks at a convenience store, books at a bookstore, and snacks at a supermarket... She used it in multiple transactions and in a planned manner just to experience more usage scenarios of the digital RMB wallet. Every time she opened her digital RMB wallet in front of everyone, it attracted a lot of attention.

The 10 million yuan digital RMB red envelopes distributed by Shenzhen this time were distributed in the form of a "lottery draw". Starting from 18:00 on October 12, the "lucky winners" started the "buy, buy, buy" payment experience. The pilot activity ended at 24:00 on the 18th. The unused red envelopes will be withdrawn after the validity period, so many people "reluctantly" spent the last penny in their digital RMB wallets before the weekend.

At 21:00 on the 18th, Shenzhen citizen Zhao Quanhai spent all the 200 yuan red envelope in his digital RMB wallet at a gas station. "If I don't use it anymore, it will expire, so I have to try it anyway." Zhao Quanhai told reporters, "The experience of scanning code payment is similar to WeChat and Alipay. But the difference is that it is not restricted by the network environment and does not require card binding, so it is smoother and faster."

Data released by relevant departments in Shenzhen on the 19th showed that as of 24:00 on October 18, 47,573 winners had successfully received the "Lixiang Luohu Digital RMB Red Packet", and 62,788 transactions were made using the red packets with a transaction amount of 8.764 million yuan.

After the payment system transformation, how is the merchant acceptance situation?

Shenzhen launched a pilot program for digital RMB red envelopes, one of the purposes of which is to stimulate consumption and boost domestic demand. Data provided by relevant departments in Shenzhen showed that in addition to red envelope transactions, some winners also recharged their digital wallets, with a recharge amount of 901,000 yuan.

In order to support the circulation and use of digital RMB during the pilot period, 3,389 merchants in Luohu District, Shenzhen, have completed the transformation of the digital RMB system, including shopping malls and supermarkets, life services, daily retail, and catering consumption. Consumers can make purchases without barriers through barcode payment or near-field payment.

"Bank of China and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China provided us with relevant equipment. We only need to upgrade the internal software system without any additional expenses." Jiang Yan, brand management director of the marketing department of China Resources Vanguard (Holdings) Co., Ltd., told reporters that all 26 stores under China Resources Vanguard in Luohu District, Shenzhen, have upgraded their cash register systems and all cashiers have been trained. As of 24:00 on October 18, China Resources Vanguard had accepted digital RMB payments totaling nearly 2.44 million yuan.

Supporting digital RMB consumption requires transformation of relevant payment systems. Fan Yifei, deputy governor of the People's Bank of China, previously wrote that in the circulation of digital RMB, considering the high technical foundation and system management requirements, commercial banks as designated operating institutions can cooperate with other commercial banks and related institutions to jointly provide digital RMB circulation services to the public on the basis of clarifying the relationship between responsibilities and rights.

Industry insiders said that only merchants who have undergone system transformation and have the ability to accept digital RMB can accept it. However, the transformation cost is not borne by merchants, but by the promotion and operation organization. This Shenzhen pilot activity is not only a test of the digital RMB payment situation, but also a test of the operation structure.

It can be seen from this pilot activity that although the digital RMB has an independent App, the central bank and designated operating institutions adopt a co-construction and sharing approach to jointly develop the wallet ecological platform while realizing their respective functional characteristics.

The true face of digital RMB is revealed. Which speculations have been proven to be "misinterpretations"?

As the digital RMB wallet officially appeared in the public eye, the true face of the digital RMB proved that some previous speculations were "misinterpretations."

——Digital currency is not equal to blockchain.

As People's Bank of China Governor Yi Gang previously introduced, the digital RMB does not have a preset technical route in its research and development work, and can compete fairly in the market to select the best. It can consider blockchain technology, or adopt new technologies evolved based on existing electronic payments, to fully mobilize the market's enthusiasm and creativity.

Legal digital currency is not a digital encrypted asset, nor is it restricted to a certain technology. Not all digital currencies are based on blockchain technology. The reporter learned that the digital RMB does use blockchain technology in some links, but based on certain technical features of blockchain, it is not suitable for use in the retail sector.

——It is not mandatory for merchants to use digital RMB.

According to current regulations, merchants cannot refuse to accept cash. Although the digital RMB is positioned to replace part of the cash, the relevant payment system must be transformed to support digital RMB consumption, so there are conditional requirements for merchants to accept it.

A person from an institution involved in the operation of the digital RMB said that the circulation and operation of the digital RMB is a market-oriented behavior, which requires operating and service institutions to improve the user experience of customers and merchants, fully mobilize the enthusiasm and creativity of all parties, and ensure that the digital RMB is widely available.

——Digital currency is not intended to replace third-party mobile payments.

The circulation of digital RMB requires joint efforts from all parties in the payment chain. The Central Bank Digital Currency Research Institute has reached a strategic cooperation with JD Digital Technology Group to jointly promote the application of digital RMB. Ant Group also revealed that it is actively participating in the research and development of digital RMB.

Mu Changchun, director of the Digital Currency Research Institute of the Central Bank, once clearly stated that the digital RMB is the "digitalization of the RMB." As a pure public product, the digital RMB will become an important supplement to electronic payments, rather than seeking to replace any type of payment method.