Archive · 29 Dec 2025
China to Pay Interest on Digital Yuan
China is going to start paying interest on its digital money, called the digital yuan or E-CNY, from January 1.
This is to make more people use it.
Banks will pay interest to people who keep digital yuan in their wallets.
The digital yuan is now treated like regular money in banks.
China has been working on this digital money since 2014.
Even though it's been tested in many places, not many people use it because there are other popular digital payment systems like WeChat Pay and Alipay.
China also wants to use the digital yuan for payments between countries, but there have been some problems with that.
The interest rates on regular bank deposits are very low, so this new interest on the digital yuan might help.
China will start paying interest on its digital currency, the E-CNY, from January 1.
Commercial banks will pay interest to clients based on the amount of digital yuan they hold.
The digital yuan now has the same legal status as traditional bank deposits.
The E-CNY has faced competition from established digital payment platforms like WeChat Pay and Alipay.
China has increased efforts to advance the digital yuan, including establishing a digital yuan operations centre in Shanghai.
- Who
- People's Bank of China (PBOC) and commercial banks
- What
- Introduction of interest payments on the digital yuan (E-CNY)
- When
- Starting January 1
- Where
- China
- Why
- To encourage wider use of the digital yuan and align it with traditional bank deposits
- Currency
- E-CNY (Digital Yuan)
- Interest Payment Start Date
- January 1
- Interest Payment Entity
- Commercial Banks
- Legal Status
- Same as traditional bank deposits
- Project Launch Year
- 2014
- Current Interest Rate on Demand Deposits
- 0.05%
- Competing Payment Platforms
- WeChat Pay, Alipay
- International Project Setback
- mBridge project withdrawal by Bank for International Settlements