12 new ones added! The number of digital RMB operating institutions has expanded to 22, with city commercial banks entering the market for the first time.

Each Daily reporter｜Zhang Shoulin    Each Daily editor｜Huang Sheng

On April 2, the People’s Bank of China officially announced the addition of 12 bank-category digital RMB business operation institutions, which have been connected to the PBOC’s digital RMB system. By this point, the total number of digital RMB business operation institutions has expanded from the original 10 to 22, marking a new stage in the development of the digital RMB ecosystem.

The 12 banks newly added this time include 7 nationwide joint-stock banks and 5 city commercial banks. This is also the first time city commercial banks have entered the digital RMB operations business.

Expansion of the operating footprint

The 12 banks newly added this time include 7 nationwide joint-stock banks—China CITIC Bank, China Everbright Bank, Huaxia Bank, China Minsheng Bank, Guangfa Bank, Pudong Development Bank, and Zhejiang Business Bank—as well as 5 city commercial banks—Ningbo Bank, Jiangsu Bank, Beijing Bank, Nanjing Bank, and Suzhou Bank.

In addition to the previously existing 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, Industrial Bank, WeBank, and Taizhou Commercial Bank, the pattern of digital RMB operation institutions has achieved an important expansion to reach 22 institutions.

Of note is that this expansion has been preceded by policy groundwork. In October 2025, PBOC Governor Pan Gongsheng, at the opening ceremony of the Financial Street Forum Annual Conference, made clear that the next step would be to study and optimize the positioning of the digital RMB within the money hierarchy and to support more commercial banks in becoming digital RMB business operation institutions. The market generally believes that this expansion represents a substantive implementation of that policy direction.

As of the end of November 2025, digital RMB had cumulatively processed 3.48 billion transactions, with a cumulative transaction value of RMB 16.7 trillion. Through the digital RMB app, 230 million personal wallets have been opened, and 18.84 million unit wallets have been opened. The Multi-CBDC Bridge (mBridge) has cumulatively processed 4,047 cross-border payment business transactions, with a cumulative transaction value of RMB 387.2 billion. Among transaction amounts across different currency types, the share of digital RMB is approximately 95.3%.

Digital RMB enters the 2.0 era

The expansion of operating institutions comes at a key window period as digital RMB is comprehensively upgrading from the “1.0 cash era” to the “2.0 deposit-money era.”

On December 29, 2025, Lu Lei, Deputy Governor of the People’s Bank of China, wrote an article introducing that the PBOC issued the “Action Plan on Further Strengthening the Digital RMB Management Service System and the Development of Related Financial Infrastructure,” announcing that a new-generation digital RMB measurement framework, management system, operating mechanism, and ecosystem would officially be launched and implemented on January 1, 2026. Digital RMB will move from the digital cash era to the digital deposit-money era.

Lu Lei explained that under the new institutional arrangements, digital RMB in customers’ wallets at commercial banks is, based on accounts, commercial-bank liabilities; this marks digital RMB’s transition from the cash-based 1.0 version to the deposit-money-based 2.0 version. The action plan further clarifies that banking institutions may pay interest on balances of customer-verified digital RMB wallets and must comply with self-disciplinary agreements on deposit interest rate pricing; wallet balances are included in the scope of deposit insurance protection.

This transformation fundamentally changes the underlying positioning of digital RMB. Previously, digital RMB’s M0 (cash in circulation) positioning did not earn interest, and penetration in the C-end high-frequency payments market was weak; commercial banks only assumed the function of custody of funds. With the arrival of the 2.0 era, the internal drive for commercial banks to participate in the digital RMB ecosystem has been activated.

Behind the expansion: improving accessibility

In its expansion announcement, the central bank explicitly stated “enhancing the inclusiveness of digital RMB services.” The expansion of member institutions has also broadened the reach of digital RMB. The newly added seven joint-stock banks have extensive branches and customer bases nationwide, while the five city commercial banks occupy important positions in regional economies and cooperate closely with local government affairs.

In the cross-border sphere, the international operation center business platform for digital RMB has been officially put into operation, and it has launched a digital RMB cross-border digital payments platform, a digital RMB blockchain services platform, and a digital asset platform.

Among these, the cross-border digital payments platform is designed to support RMB internationalization and cross-border use, and it explores using legal tender digital currency to address pain points existing in traditional cross-border payments. The blockchain services platform is positioned to support standardized blockchain transaction routing/transfer and on-chain digital RMB payment services. The digital asset platform is positioned to support compliant on-chain issuance, registration, custody, and trading of digital assets.

These latter two platforms—the digital RMB blockchain services platform and the digital asset platform—are built on the same blockchain foundation, enabling coordinated operation between the two platforms. They support Delivery-versus-Payment (DvP) settlement of securities and funds on a unified ledger, and explore feasible paths, within the current regulatory framework, to improve the quality and efficiency of financial business services and reduce settlement risks.

The reporter also learned that the digital RMB cross-border digital payments platform has already been upgraded to “CBETS” (CBETS). It supports overseas participants to connect through a digital RMB cross-border business gateway with “one-point access,” directly enabling intelligent digital payment services operating 24/7 for both the on-chain and off-chain business platforms.

Cover image source: Each Daily media resources database