Insurer Pingan Issues Digital Yuan COVID-19 Policies for Medical Staff: Report

Chinese insurance giant Pingan issued insurance policies using the digital yuan in the eastern city of Shenzhen, pushing trials for the central bank digital currency further into the financial services sector.

• Pingan's local subsidiary has developed a COVID-19 insurance plan for medical staff in Shenzhen's Nanshan district. Users who pay their premiums in e-CNY can receive discounts, the Shenzhen Special Zone Daily reported.
• The policy covers 300,000 yuan ($46,342) for death caused by the coronavirus, 50,000 ($7,723) yuan for a COVID-19 diagnosis and 50,000 yuan for accidental death.
• While this is not the first time the digital RMB has been tested in the insurance sector, it is likely the first time an e-CNY insurance trial has been open to the public.
• In December, local media reported that some digital yuan trial participants could use the digital yuan to buy insurance on Zhong An's app. That trial was conducted in collaboration with China Construction Bank. Zhong An is an online insurance provider.
• Pingan will continue to test the use of the digital yuan in insurance payments and claims settlement, a person familiar with the matter told Shenzhen Special Zone Daily.
• China's digital RMB has so far been tested in a variety of retail scenarios, such as merchant payments and metro systems, as well as with payrolls.
• As of the end of June, 34.5 billion yuan ($5 billion) had been processed in 70.8 million digital yuan transactions, the People's Bank of China said last week.