BNP Paribas Will Link Digital Yuan to Bank Accounts for Promoting CBDC Use: Report

French bank BNP Paribas (BNP) is promoting the use of China’s digital yuan by linking wallets to bank accounts, the South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported on Friday.

BNP Paribas’ corporate clients will be able to connect to China’s central bank digital currency (CBDC), or “e-CNY” as it is known – through a connection to the Bank of China’s (BOC) system.

BOC is one of eight banks authorized to handle China’s digital currency business.

The system will link clients’ “digital yuan wallet to [their] bank accounts” to enable “efficient real-time and and convenient” use of the CBDC, BNP said in a statement according to SCMP’s report.

The bank will also be exploring the use of the CBDC for smart contracts, supply chain finance and for cross-border payments, it added.

BNP Paribas had not responded to CoinDesk’s request for comment at press time.

China’s digital yuan development is the most advanced among CBDC projects in major economies, its testing phase having commenced in 2020. The country’s central bank the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) said in January that the digital yuan accounted for 0.13% of the total cash in circulation.