digital rupee, SBI Chairman Dinesh Khara today (December 2) said that the Reserve Bank’s first pilot project for retail digital rupee is a game changer with lasting effects that will ensure better monetary transmission at very low cost.
The pilot project for retail digital rupee, RBI’s central bank digital currency (CBDC) began on Thursday (December 1) in Mumbai, New Delhi, Bengaluru and Bhubaneswar and State Bank of India (SBI) is one of the participating banks.
The Retail Digital Rupee (e₹-R) project has been launched in a closed user group with participation from four lenders—State Bank of India, ICICI Bank, Yes Bank and IDFC First Bank—as well as customers and merchants.
“RBI’s pilot project on Retail-CBDC is a game changer with lasting effects ensuring better monetary transmission at very low cost.
“The anonymity factor is critical to its acceptance. It complements, complements and complements the prevailing currency architecture, while also inspiring further innovation,” Khare said in a statement.
Digital Rupee Phase II,
The second phase of the retail digital rupee project will include nine more cities and four more banks. E-R is in the form of a digital token that represents legal tender and will provide “the characteristics of physical cash such as trust, security and settlement finality”, according to the RBI.
Announcing the pilot project on November 29, the central bank said, “In the case of cash, it will not earn any interest and can be converted into other forms of money, such as deposits with banks.”
The use of digital rupee is expected to reduce the operational costs associated with managing physical currency as well as increase financial inclusion in the economy.
The launch of the digital rupee comes almost a month after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) launched a pilot in the digital rupee – wholesale – on November 1.
(With PTI inputs)
Read also: RBI announces launch of first pilot for retail digital rupee