Bye-Bye Banknotes! Foreign Tourists In China Can Use Digital Yuan Without Having A Local Bank Account

JAKARTA – The Chinese government is increasingly disseminating its Digital Yuan money. China's central bank announced that tourists traveling in China can use the Digital Yuan without having to have a bank account.

“Foreign residents traveling temporarily in China can open their e-CNY wallets to meet their daily payment needs without opening a domestic bank account”, said China's central bank, the People's Bank of China (PBoC), as quoted by CNBC International.

However, the central bank did not mention the launch of the feature for foreigners. They also did not specify when the Digital Yuan would be distributed to foreign tourists.

Many Chinese citizens themselves are reportedly using digital payments instead of cash or cash. Meanwhile, payments using credit cards are not as massively used as in the United States.

Two Yuan Digital payment apps, Tencent and Alibaba (via Alipay) require local accounts. Therefore, tourists will find it difficult to use the application.

However, based on a CNBC International report, a foreign journalist is reported to have been able to use Yuan Digital through a local bank account.

For information, China's central bank has been developing the Digital Yuan or e-CNY since 2014. The PBoC claims the digital money system they use only "collects less transaction information than traditional electronic payments".

The use of the Digital Yuan is intended to stem the rate of cryptocurrency in China. Recently, the Xi Jinping government was also rumored to have banned crypto mining activities. This policy makes Chinese miners move to other countries in the world that are more crypto-friendly.