French BNP Paribas announced the beginning of cooperation with the Bank of China and the implementation of the program of payments in digital yuan for corporate clients.
The cooperation will allow BNP Paribas China to connect to the Bank of China (BOC) digital yuan management system (e-CNY) and to launch its own settlement system for corporate clients on its basis.
According to BNP Paribas, the bank’s corporate clients will be able to access the services of supply chain finance, deployment of smart contracts, payment of utility bills and cross-border payments.
To this end, corporate customers’ e-CNY wallets will be paired in real time with their checking bank accounts.
“The joint management system will link the RMB digital wallet to the customer’s bank account.
This will ensure efficient, convenient and expeditious settlement practices in the Bank of China’s digital assets.
And it will also help BNP Paribas corporate clients simplify the use of e-CNY for real-time transactions,” BNP said in a statement.
According to a report by consulting firm Oliver Wyman, the rapid spread of e-CNY is forcing foreign banks to rethink their strategies and consider the competitive advantage of digital renminbi and its use in cross-border settlements.
Chinese media have informed the public that a pilot digital yuan payroll program for civil servants will be launched this May under the auspices of the Bank of China.
Earlier, the Changsha City Administration in China’s Hunan Province reported that in the first three months of 2023.
The state digital currency began to be accepted for payment in more than 400,000 outlets. The city’s total e-CNY transactions exceeded $1.4 billion.