Major Chinese Bank Offer Digital Yuan Users Carbon Credit Rewards

A major Chinese bank, Industrial Bank, will reward digital yuan-using customers with carbon points as it targets further CBDC adoption.

Per CICC Online, the bank announced that verified digital yuan wallet users can now obtain “personal carbon account points” when they use its app to make purchases with the CBDC.

Major Chinese Bank: Digital Yuan and Green Finance Are Complimentary

Customers will accrue carbon points when they make e-CNY retail payments via the app.

They can also get points by using digital yuan tokens to make “fund purchases and credit card payments.”

Several Chinese banks launched personal carbon points platforms last year in a bid to boost green finance and cut emissions.

The program is part of the nation’s pledge to become carbon-neutral by 2060. Local governments use the program to reward commuters for using public transport instead of cars.

Citizens can also get points by joining tree-planting efforts and recycling drives.

They can then swap these points for prepaid travel card credits and shopping vouchers. A spokesperson from the Digital Yuan Department at Industrial Bank said:

“Digital RMB wallets and carbon accounts are promoting innovative development in digital and green finance in China. Integrating [green finance with the digital yuan] will have a synergistic effect. It will help build a green economy and a new digital yuan ecosystem.”

The bank said that it was looking to expand its green finance-digital yuan operations, and added that it had already broken new ground.

In Fuzhou, the bank says it used the CBDC to power a Fujian Province first. Industrial Bank took part in a digital yuan-funded marine fishery carbon sink purchase.

In Suzhou, meanwhile, the bank said it had issued some $967 million worth of digital yuan green finance-related loans.

Hong Kong allows China's digital yuan to be used in local shops https://t.co/fAyYXDH2TJ pic.twitter.com/BV0wKaqnOZ

— Reuters (@Reuters) May 17, 2024

Industrial Bank says its customers have opened nearly 7.3 million digital wallets, which they have used to transact more than $41 billion.

The digital yuan made its official debut in 2020, when it rolled out in four cities. The pilot has since extended to 27 mainland cities and provinces, in addition to Hong Kong and Macau.

Industrial Bank is a majority state-owned bank based in Fuzhou, Fujian Province. Last year, the bank placed 60th in the Forbes Global 2000.