MobiKwik And Cred Emerge As Early Adopters Of CBDC, Launch E-Rupee Wallets - Check Details

Two fintech platforms, MobiKwik and Cred have become early adopters of the Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) space. The two fintech companies have launched e-Rupee (e₹) wallets on their app platforms.

The fintechs have launched the e-wallets in partnership with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and private sector lender Yes Bank.

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What is Digital Rupee or e-rupee?

Digital Rupee or e₹, is India’s Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC), it is the digital form of India’s physical currency, according to the RBI. The e₹ is issued by the apex bank and in digital form. The e₹ is stored in a user’s digital wallet and can be used to conduct transactions just like physical currency. In addition to being used for payments, e₹ also serves as a ‘store of value’ as it can be withdrawn from one’s bank account and kept separately in the e₹ wallet.

What Is An e₹ Wallet

An e₹ wallet is a digital wallet that can be accessed via one’s mobile phone. An e₹ wallet stores the digital rupee, similar to the physical wallets which store the physical currency. Presently the e₹ wallets are provided by banks and non-banking institutions which are part of the retail CBDC pilot.

India’s largest digital wallet today announced that it has launched a full version of India’s Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) – e-rupee (e₹) in partnership with Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and Yes Bank.

MobiKwik’s E-Wallet

Fintech company MobiKwik said in a release on Tuesday, January 28 that it has full-scale production of the e-rupee (e₹) wallet. The company said that the new CBDC-based product is available to all its Android users.

Mobikwik added that the e₹ wallet allows users to send and receive money to other e₹ wallets, and bank accounts via UPI. Additionally, the wallet also supports peer-to-peer (P2P) and peer-to-merchant (P2M) transactions.

The company also mentioned that while existing MobiKwik can begin using the e₹ wallet, new users will need to complete a KYC process before they can use the facility. MobiKwik added that the e-rupee (e₹) wallet has a daily transaction limit of Rs 50,000. And a per transaction limit of Rs 10,000. The wallet can store currency in denominations of 50 paise, Re 1, Rs 2, Rs 5, Rs 10, Rs 20, Rs 50, Rs 100, Rs 200 and Rs 500.

Cred has also launched a beta version of the e₹ wallet which is accessible to a limited user base. The company added that updates to the wallet will enable programmable merchant payments, Cred Pay integration. Additionally, the app will also allow PIN-less transactions of amounts below Rs 500 and broad-based access for all Cred members. Presently all whitelisted Cred members can pay through Unified Payments Interface-linked bank accounts and send or receive money to other CBDC wallets if they have completed the video KYC process.

The RBI said that it plans to test the robustness of the entire process of e₹ creation, distribution, usage via e₹ pilots on a limited scale.