One sign in a Beijing coffee shop advertises China's digital currency, the E-CNY. VCG/VCG via Getty Images
Two Chinese state-run banks want to increase the use of China's digital yuan.
China Construction Bank is preparing to allow e-yuan holders online fund investment.
As of June, the CBDC trial in China had logged $5.3 Billion of transactions.
Check out more stories from Insider's business page.
Two state-run banks in China are exploring the possibility of allowing customers to use China's digital currency to purchase investment funds or insurance products. This is according to a South China Morning Post Report.
If successful, this move could extend the use of the eyuan beyond low-value daily retail payments, as was the case with the People's Bank of China in 2014 when it began working on the digital currency project.
China Construction Bank is one of the Big Four Chinese lenders. It told the newspaper that it was working with Shanghai Tiantian Fund Distribution in order to enable digital yuan holders make online fund investments. JD.com is also involved in the work. It's a Chinese e-commerce giant valued at $120 billion and its shares are listed on the Nasdaq.
Since 2017, the lender has been involved in the development and research of China's digital currency central bank (or CBDC). The lender views an eyuan as improving payment efficiency. China Construction Bank reported that it has opened 7.23 million digital wallets to individuals and 1.19 million for businesses. As of June, the bank reported that it had processed 18.9 billion yuan ($2.9 Billion) in e-yuan transactions.
Bank of Communications is looking at how the e-yuan can be used to fund management and insurance companies. A Bocom executive spoke with SCMP, but did not disclose which insurance firms or fund managers it was working with.
According to the report, trials of China's CBDC had logged $5.3 Billion in transactions by June.
According to the think tank Atlantic Council, five countries have launched digital currencies. In September, a Federal Reserve research paper will be published on whether the US central banks should create a digital currency.
