The Yes Bank app’s UPI integration is the first for the Indian retail CBDC, which has witnessed various projects since its test launch in December.
The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) digital currency, the digital rupee, will be more usable, Yes Bank announced on August 30. This was due to Yes Bank’s UPI integration with the RBI digital rupee app. Now, Yes Bank account holders are set to be in a position to conduct digital rupee transactions by scanning UPI QR codes.
The RBI’s National Payments Corporation (NPCI) runs the UPI. UPI and digital rupee infrastructure are provided by the NPCI. In line with local press reports, the UPI is used by 150 million merchants in India.
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We are pleased to share that YES BANK has gone live with Unified Payments Interface (UPI) interoperability on the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) app.
With this, users can simply scan any UPI enabled QR Code through the YES BANK Digital Rupee… pic.twitter.com/dXxrerptoC
— YES BANK (@YESBANK) August 30, 2023
The Yes Bank app is the first to integrate the UPI with the central bank digital currency (CBDC). Yes Bank executive Ajay Rajan stated:
“The transition to an interoperable CBDC platform holds the promise of seamless, efficient, and broader transactional capabilities for YES BANK customers. […] This transformational enabler will facilitate a quantum leap in CBDC usage, driven by the enhanced convenience and accessibility.”
In the retail digital rupee pilot project, which started in December, Yes Bank was one of the eight initial participating banks. Among 5,000 merchants and 50,000 CBDC customers, the project completed 800,000 transactions resulting in $134 million by February. A distinct wholesale digital rupee pilot was initiated in November.
The digital rupee is already accepted at some of the country’s largest retail chain, Reliance Retail, as part of a QR code program launched in February in partnership with ICICI Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, and Innoviti Technologies.