Authority-supported banks in China have reportedly begun to deep-dive into new use cases for the digital yuan, via adding it to the list of payment options for insurance products and investment funds online.

Specifically, a variety of top-tier Chinese banks, nominally Bank of Communications (Bocom) and China Construction Bank (CCB), are reportedly collaborating with fund managers and insurers to make e-yuan payments available, rolled out to different sectors outside of retail. 

CCB has previously formed a partnership with an investment funds platform, Shanghai Tiantian Fund Distribution, to offer facilitating features for online fund investments, using the digital yuan. 

JD.com – a China-headquartered e-commerce firm – will also be taking part in the collaboration. 

“We have since 2017 been participating in the research and development of the central bank digital currency, which we view as significant for our payment system due to its ability to enhance payment efficiency.” CCB executive vice president Zhang Min reportedly remarked. 

CCB is reportedly offering support for an overall figure of 8.42 million e-yuan wallets, catering to 7.23 million individual users and 1.19 million establishments. 

Bocom executive vice president Qian Bin further shared that the bank is investing extensive resources in studying different use cases for the e-yuan in fund management and the insurance sphere. 

The efforts of the state-backed banks reportedly extended beyond the scope of the initial blueprint of the central bank digital currency (CBDC) established by China’s central bank, which primarily aimed to fuel the low-value, daily retail payments scene solely.