This article will help you play with the newly launched digital RMB (pilot version) App

As the promotion of digital RMB accelerates in 2021, the number of cities covered, application scenarios, and wallets opened has seen a substantial increase. At the 2021 Hong Kong Fintech Week, Mu Changchun, director of the Digital Currency Research Institute of the People's Bank of China, said that as of October 22 last year, my country had opened a total of 140 million digital RMB personal wallets and 10 million corporate wallets, and the cumulative number of transactions reached 150 million, with a transaction volume of nearly 62 billion yuan.

As we enter 2022, the digital RMB has taken a crucial step towards its full promotion. On January 4, the "Digital RMB (Pilot Version) App" was officially launched on major Android app stores and Apple AppStore.

According to official introduction, the Digital RMB (Pilot Version) App is the official service platform for the pilot program of China's legal digital currency - Digital RMB for individual users. It will provide users with the opening and management of digital RMB personal wallets, and the exchange and circulation services of digital RMB.

Based on this, BlockBeats tested all the functions of this app and found that it has added many new functions and optimized the page layout compared to the previous version, and it is more convenient and faster for new users to register. Next, we will bring you the relevant test experience.

How to register the Digital RMB (Pilot Version) App

First of all, although the Digital RMB (pilot version) App can currently be downloaded publicly from major app stores, registration is still limited to users in 11 locations, including Shenzhen, Suzhou, Xiongan, Chengdu, Shanghai, Hainan, Changsha, Xi'an, Qingdao, Dalian and the Winter Olympics scenes (Beijing, Zhangjiakou).

In addition, new users can complete the registration with only their mobile phone number, without having to enter personal information such as name, ID number, bank card number, etc., making the whole process more convenient and smooth. At the same time, in order to ensure the normal use of the user account, after successful registration, only one account is supported to log in on one device. When the user logs in on other devices, the current device will automatically log out.

As the digital RMB has entered a new stage of full market application from the internal beta version to the large-scale pilot version. It can be expected that the digital RMB will be more widely adopted in the future and gradually enter the era of full circulation of digital legal currency. The listing of the major app stores this time also shows that the digital RMB App has the necessary functions and conditions to be relatively mature and market-oriented. At the same time, users will be able to search for the digital RMB App more quickly and download it through formal channels; and to a certain extent, it also prevents the illegal behavior of defrauding users by taking advantage of the fact that the digital RMB App has not yet been listed.

Introduction to Digital RMB Wallet

Opening and reporting loss of digital wallet

After successful registration, you can enter the App page and see the three major sections of "Home, Service, and My" below. Compared with the previous version, the functions and partitions have been upgraded, and the interface design of the App is more beautiful and smoother to use. Next, users can open or add a digital RMB wallet in the "Home" section.

It can be seen that the digital RMB wallet currently supports 9 banks, namely: Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Agricultural Bank of China, Bank of China, China Construction Bank, Bank of Communications, Postal Savings Bank of China, China Merchants Bank, MyBank (Alipay) and WeBank (Alipay).

Then, BlockBeats successfully registered a digital wallet of "Industrial and Commercial Bank of China" by verifying the mobile phone number and setting a wallet name. However, it should be noted that the set "wallet name" does not necessarily represent the real identity and is not unique, so users should not use it as the main basis for identifying the other party's identity; it will be displayed to the other party when receiving or paying, and users can modify the wallet name in the wallet management.

Then, BlockBeats tried to transfer 100 RMB into the wallet. There are two ways to transfer money: one is to transfer directly through a savings card, and the other is to open the mobile banking app.

In addition, if the user's mobile phone is lost or the account is at risk, they can report the loss in time. There are two types of reporting loss:

1. Only report the account lost. After the account is reported lost, you can only cancel the report loss status of the account through "More Options" - "Remove Report Loss", and you cannot log in to the account, change the password, etc.; but the wallet bound to the account can be operated normally and is not affected by the account loss.

2. When you report a lost account, you also report a lost wallet. After reporting a lost account, you can only cancel the lost account status through "More Options" - "Remove Loss Report". You cannot log in to the account, change the password, etc. However, the wallet bound to the account can deposit funds, but cannot withdraw funds, and cannot operate basic wallet functions (such as changing the wallet payment password, changing the wallet nickname, etc.). You can restore the wallet to normal status by canceling the wallet loss report function.

Wallet Types

In order to classify and manage digital RMB wallets, the operating agency divides digital RMB wallets into four categories based on the customer's identity recognition strength:

1. Category 1 wallet: The applicant's identity information must be verified on site, including verification of identity documents, mobile phone numbers and personal domestic bank account information; users can bind their domestic bank accounts, and will support the conversion of digital RMB in personal digital RMB wallets and deposits in bound accounts, with no transaction restrictions and the highest degree of real-name verification.

2. Category II wallets: remote opening, requiring verification of identity documents, mobile phone numbers, and personal domestic bank accounts; supports the transfer of digital RMB in personal digital RMB wallets and deposits in bound accounts, with a high degree of real-name verification. However, the upper limit of the balance of Category II wallets is 500,000 yuan, the single payment limit is 50,000 yuan, and the daily cumulative transaction limit is 100,000 yuan.

3. Category III wallets: remote opening, requiring verification of ID, mobile phone number and other information, no need to bind a bank account, weak real-name verification. At the same time, the upper limit of the balance of the three categories of wallets is 20,000 yuan, the single payment limit is 5,000 yuan, and the daily cumulative transaction limit is 10,000 yuan.

4. Category 4 wallets: remote opening, only verifying the mobile phone number, no need to bind a bank account, anonymous wallets. The upper limit of the balance of Category 4 wallets is 10,000 yuan, the single payment limit is 2,000 yuan, the daily cumulative transaction limit is 5,000 yuan, and the annual cumulative payment limit is 50,000 yuan.

Sub-wallet

Under the digital wallet, users can also open sub-wallets, which can be used to achieve more convenient and quick functions, as well as limit payment, privacy protection and other functions.

First, users can choose up to 52 merchants that support push sub-wallets, including JD.com, Meituan, Tmall Supermarket, and Didi Chuxing, and users can open them according to their needs. And to facilitate users to manage the use of funds, each sub-wallet can also set a separate limit.

Hardware wallets

The hardware wallet is a digital RMB wallet based on a security chip, which can be used for “touch and pay” payments at offline POS terminals.

At present, the digital RMB dual offline payment has completed technical verification and entered the design stage of supporting standards and specifications. However, in order to ensure a unified user experience, the current version does not provide the dual offline payment function to the public. In addition, users can apply for a standard hardware wallet card and use the "stick it" function for recharge and management.

What features does the app have?

transfer

Users can transfer money to others directly through their mobile phone number or digital RMB wallet number.

Payment

Through use, it can be found that the payment function of the Digital RMB (Pilot Version) App is similar to that of WeChat and Alipay. When a user receives money, he shows his payment code to the other party, and the other party scans the QR code and pays the user. When paying, the user only needs to show his payment QR code or barcode to the other party, or scan it to start scanning payment.

However, there are still some differences between the digital RMB and general electronic payments such as Alipay and WeChat Pay. General electronic payment is a third-party payment method, which is settled by commercial banks storing currency. There is a very small probability of bankruptcy risk and no legal compensation, so users cannot support Alipay or WeChat Pay.

However, the digital RMB is legal tender, and users are not allowed to refuse to accept the digital RMB. In addition, the digital RMB can realize offline payment with higher security and limit than Alipay and WeChat Pay. In addition, the design of the digital RMB also takes into account the advantages of both physical RMB and electronic payment tools. It has the characteristics of payment and settlement and anonymity of physical RMB, and the characteristics of electronic payment tools such as low cost, strong portability, high efficiency, and difficulty in counterfeiting.

Touch

Currently, “Touch and Pay” is only available on Android and Apple phones that support NFC.

Users can complete payment transactions by placing their mobile phones close to the NFC area of ​​the POS terminal, or by touching two NFC mobile phones together. At the same time, "Tap and Pay" supports both online and offline modes. The offline mode can be used both online and offline. Users can switch modes as needed.

Stick it on

"Stick" uses the NFC reading and writing function of the mobile phone, which can read devices loaded with digital RMB hardware wallets and provide basic management functions such as transfer in, transfer out, and query for hardware wallets. However, users must ensure that NFC is turned on when using it.

Red envelope

In addition, the Digital RMB (Pilot Version) App also has a built-in "red envelope" function. Red envelopes are divided into ordinary red envelopes and consumption red envelopes. Ordinary red envelopes are equivalent to wallet balances and can be used in any scenario that supports digital RMB; consumption wallets can only be used under certain restrictions, including validity period, restricted scenarios, payment amount, etc.

It is worth mentioning that when users register for the digital RMB wallet of China Post Savings, they can receive a red envelope of 10 yuan. The latest collection time is 23:59 on February 28.

Summarize

Since the People's Bank of China established a legal digital currency research group in 2014, established a digital currency research institute in 2016, built a digital currency prototype, and conducted multi-site and multi-scenario tests in 2021, the research and development of the digital RMB has basically completed the top-level design, functional development, system debugging, etc. With the official launch of the digital RMB (pilot version) App, it will greatly reduce the threshold for users to open registration, and China's digital RMB pilot will continue to expand to more new scenarios, and the relevant ecology will be more complete.

At present, all major economies are also actively considering or promoting the research and development of central bank digital currencies. The latest survey report of the Bank for International Settlements shows that about 86% of the central banks of 65 major countries or economies have carried out research related to digital currencies. For example, the central banks of the United States, Britain, France, Canada, Sweden, Japan, Russia, South Korea, Singapore and other countries and the European Central Bank have announced their considerations and plans for central bank digital currencies in various forms in recent years, and some have started or even completed preliminary testing.

The main function of the digital RMB is to improve the level of financial convenience. With the first implementation of the digital RMB in my country, it may have a far-reaching impact on the global business and financial forms. In general, the digital RMB plan promoted by my country is relatively stable as a whole, with a long-term layout. The technology is mainly based on security and convenience, which can ensure the security of the transaction process and payment efficiency; in terms of scene integration, it is gradually expanding, covering not only "eating, living, traveling, shopping, entertainment" and other scenes, but also including green and low-carbon, government services and financial services and other fields.

Next, the popularization of digital RMB related knowledge will be further strengthened, and various incentives will be used to cultivate user payment habits and maintain and consolidate the status of digital RMB. As China has made early plans for the layout of legal digital currency, it is expected to become a leader in more fields with its first-mover advantage, and we will have the opportunity to witness the arrival of this new round of history together.