A major Chinese bank, Industrial Bank, will reward digital yuan-using customers with carbon points as it focuses on further CBDC adoption.
Per CICC Onlinethe bank announced that verified digital yuan wallet users can now get “personal carbon account points” when they use the app to make purchases at the CBDC.
Major Chinese bank: digital yuan and green finance are free
Customers collect CO2 points when they make retail payments in e-CNY via the app.
They can also earn points by using digital yuan tokens to “make purchases and credit card payments.”
Several Chinese banks launched personal carbon points platforms last year in an effort to boost green financing and cut emissions.
The program is part of the country’s pledge to become carbon neutral by 2060. Local governments use the program to reward commuters for using public transportation instead of cars.
Citizens can also earn points by participating in tree planting and recycling activities.
They can then redeem these points for prepaid travel card credits and shopping vouchers. A spokesperson for Industrial Bank’s Digital Yuan department said:
“Digital RMB wallets and carbon accounts promote innovative development in digital and green finance in China. Integrate [green finance with the digital yuan] will have a synergistic effect. It will help build a green economy and a new digital yuan ecosystem.”
The bank said it wanted to expand its green finance and digital yuan activities, adding that it had already broken new ground.
In Fuzhou, the bank says it first used the CBDC to power a province in Fujian. Industrial Bank participated in a digital yuan-financed purchase of carbon sinks for marine fishing.
In Suzhou, meanwhile, the bank said it had issued about $967 million in green finance-related loans in digital yuan.
Hong Kong allows the Chinese digital yuan to be used in local stores https://t.co/fAyYXDH2TJ pic.twitter.com/BV0wKaqnOZ
— Reuters (@Reuters) May 17, 2024
Industrial Bank says its customers have opened nearly 7.3 million digital wallets, transacting more than $41 billion.
The digital yuan made its official debut in 2020, when it was rolled out in four cities. The pilot has since been expanded to 27 mainland cities and provinces, in addition to Hong Kong and Macau.
Industrial Bank is a state-owned bank based in Fuzhou, Fujian Province. Last year the bank ranked 60th in the Forbes Global 2000.
