US payment powers interested in Indian e-rupee
American Payment Giants Interested in Indian CBDC Program
American technological powerhouses such as Google and Amazon have expressed interest in participating in the pilot program by the Indian central bank regarding digital currency. This program opens doors for non-bank firms providing payment services, allowing them to take part in an innovative project. Among the participants are AmazonPay, GooglePay, and PhonePe, backed by Walmart.
Interest from Market Leaders
American payment companies like AmazonPay and GooglePay are eager to facilitate transactions using the Indian CBDC, known as e-rupee. In addition to the tech giants, Indian fintech companies such as Cred and Mobikwik have expressed interest in joining the pilot program. It’s worth noting that while the timeline for participation of these entities remains unclear, their involvement is a promising step towards the development of digital currency.
Development of the e-rupee Program
The e-rupee was launched in December 2022 as a tokenized form of the Indian rupee, issued by the central bank – RBI. Although RBI officials assure the privacy of transactions, the adaptation of CBDC faces some challenges. By the end of June, a million retail transactions with e-rupee had been executed, mainly after local banks introduced incentives for customers and began paying part of salaries in the digital currency.
Challenges Related to e-rupee Adaptation
The RBI’s recommendation to conduct at least a million transactions per day by the end of 2023 to test the scalability of the system has been temporarily postponed. However, this decision raises doubts about the future of the digital currency initiative due to the disparity between suggested metrics and actual user acceptance. This calls for in-depth analysis and making informed decisions in the context of following global digitization trends.
