Overview
- The People’s Bank of China approved eight additional commercial banks to operate e‑CNY services, raising the total number of authorized operators to 30.
- The newly approved banks are Ping An Bank, Hengfeng Bank, China Bohai Bank, Bank of Shanghai, Bank of Hangzhou, Huishang Bank, Bank of Changsha and Guangxi Beibu Gulf Bank.
- Those eight banks have been connected to the central bank’s e‑CNY infrastructure and will start customer services after they finish business and technical preparations required by the PBOC.
- A policy change that took effect on Jan. 1, 2026 lets banks pay interest on verified e‑CNY wallets and places those balances under national deposit insurance, which lets banks treat some e‑CNY liabilities like deposits.
- China is also testing cross‑border use through an upgraded CBETS/ Digital Currency Express platform and regional plans in places such as Guangdong aim to expand cross‑border pilots and new retail and corporate use cases, though consumer uptake still lags behind established mobile payment apps.