RBI (Reserve Bank of India) has selected four banks that would help with the pilot test of its CBDC, the digital Rupee. According to several reports, the premier banks want the four public banks to help test the digital currency on all aspects before a launch date is determined. In the statement by Moneycontrol some days ago, one of the two officials in charge of the project confirmed the news to the pressmen.
The finance minister confirms a launch will happen this year
According to one of the officials in charge of the project, the banks working on the project are the State bank of India, Baroda bank, Union bank, and Punjab bank. Another bank executive also confirmed that there are moves to kickstart the pilot test as soon as possible. He also pointed out that India’s RBI is also looking to launch the CBDC before the end of this year. However, he is unsure of an exact date that the CBDC will be rolled out for public use.
The bank is also conducting consultations with companies across the country about the new CBDC. One of its strongest allies is the FIS, a US firm that provides support and advice to banks worldwide on CBDCs. The country has been looking into essential aspects such as the inclusion of the unbanked, cross-border payments with digital currency, and programmable payments.
India’s RBI continues to propose a ban on crypto
CBDCs have continued to be a trend that almost all the countries in the world are looking into presently. Although China has been mulling this idea for a long time, the country is still in its testing phase. According to an official of the FIS, there have been talks with India’s RBI as the company intends to extend its ecosystem to help them look into the various types of CBDC they intend to design.
The official mentioned that they have the technological know-how to help design either an industrial or wholesale CBDC, which would be used for transactions. During the budget reading, the finance minister mentioned that the country would do all it could to launch the digital Rupee this year. The RBI said it wanted to adopt the graded approach to launch the digital Rupee some months ago.
A statement by the RBI said that it would oversee the regulation of the new digital currency, and the design will be a replica of the country’s physical cash. The bank also wants to create a way to enable seamless exchanges between physical and virtual rupees. In the same vein, there have been calls within the RBI for the ban on digital assets such as Bitcoin across the country. According to the deputy governor of the bank, a ban on digital assets could be the best option that the country can consider.
