Starting from 2026, the digital renminbi balance will officially accrue interest based on deposits! This reveals a very alarming fact!

Everyone should know one thing: cash in circulation itself does not generate interest.

If you keep money in your pocket, drawer, or mobile wallet, its digital amount remains unchanged, but its purchasing power is slowly eroded by inflation.

The digital renminbi is the same. Essentially, it is still cash, just transformed from paper notes into digital form.

But recently, the central bank announced a very noteworthy new plan: starting from January 1, 2026, the balance in digital renminbi wallets will earn interest like a current deposit.

What does this mean? It means— for the first time, the country explicitly admits: “Long-term existence of pure cash form incurs costs.”

What are the advantages of this digital renminbi? Let me summarize directly:

1. Mobile payments, SIM card payments, offline payments;
This should be very convenient for tourists who travel frequently, or for the elderly and children. For example, if I sometimes don’t want to go downstairs to buy groceries but there’s no cash at home, if I knew about this earlier, I could let my son use his phone with digital renminbi to pay, no password needed, and I wouldn’t have to run errands~~

2. Money in the wallet can now earn interest! As safe as bank deposits;
The most reassuring aspect is security: the money in your wallet is protected by the national deposit insurance, so even if the bank has issues within 500,000 yuan, you can be fully compensated. It’s as safe as depositing money in a bank, no worries about losing it. According to the latest policy issued by the People’s Bank of China, starting from January 1, 2026, the balance in digital renminbi wallets will begin to accrue interest. The core interest rules are as follows:
Effective date: interest accrual starting January 1, 2026:

Refer to the **current deposit interest rates** of various commercial banks

Required condition: must be a **real-name verified wallet**

3. Payment for various daily expenses:

Pay utility bills, gas, mobile top-ups, transportation, red envelope gifts, and other daily payments using digital renminbi; pay for children’s tuition, hospital registration, and medical bills with digital renminbi—no worries about transfer errors or delayed funds, real-time settlement; even train and plane tickets can be paid directly with digital renminbi in the future, no need to switch to other payment methods.

4. For merchants, accepting digital renminbi means no handling fees,

For example, Alipay charges merchants a 0.6% fee, so if you receive 100 yuan, the merchant only gets 99.4 yuan; accepting digital renminbi, the merchant gets the full 100 yuan, so more merchants will be willing to accept digital renminbi, making it more convenient for us to use.

5. Sending money abroad becomes much cheaper! Half the fees, and it arrives in minutes;
If you have children studying abroad, or often shop overseas, or do foreign trade business, you must try digital renminbi—it can save you a lot of money and time.

Usage steps:

Step 1: Download and register the app

Android phones: Open app stores (Huawei, Xiaomi app store), search “Digital Renminbi,” find the official app with a blue icon (the icon says “Digital Renminbi,” no other confusing words), click to download and install;

iPhone: Open the App Store, search “Digital Renminbi,” download the official app—don’t install the wrong one, only the official is safe;

Register: After opening the app, click “New User Registration,” check “Agree to the Agreement,” enter your mobile number, then set a login password (8-16 characters, recommended with letters + numbers; don’t choose too simple), click “Complete Registration,” and you’re registered successfully.

Step 2: Activate the digital wallet

After registration, the app will automatically jump to the “Activate Digital Wallet” page, select a bank (such as ICBC, CCB, ABC, BOC—any one is fine, no need to have a card from that bank);
Then set a wallet name (e.g., “My Wealth Wallet,” just pick a memorable name);

Next, set a payment password (don’t use your birthday or easy-to-guess info);

Click “Activation Successful,” and the anonymous wallet is now activated, ready to use for payments.

Step 3: Upgrade to a real-name wallet (do this if you want to earn interest)

If you want the money in your wallet to earn interest, upgrade to a real-name wallet: tap “Wallet” at the bottom of the app homepage, then tap the “Wallet Management” icon at the top right, select “Upgrade Wallet”; follow the prompts to enter your ID number and name, then do facial recognition with your phone camera (the phone will prompt you to blink or shake your head, just follow along); once recognition succeeds, your real-name wallet is upgraded, and the money in it can earn interest from then on.

Now, let’s see if digital renminbi covers your area:

As of December 2025, the digital renminbi pilot has expanded to 28 provinces and cities, not just a few big cities, but also including municipalities, provincial capitals, economically strong cities, and even some counties. Specifically, it includes:

- 4 municipalities: Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, Chongqing (including districts like Fuling in Chongqing, covering 21 districts, not just the main urban areas);

- Almost all provincial capitals: such as Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Chengdu, Hangzhou, Wuhan, Xi’an, Jinan, Zhengzhou, Changsha, Guiyang, Kunming, Urumqi, etc., except for a few remote provincial capitals, most are in the pilot;

- Key economically active prefecture-level cities: like Suzhou, Wuxi, Ningbo, Wenzhou, Qingdao, Xiamen, Zhuhai, Dongguan—these manufacturing and trade hubs have long been included;

- Special pilot regions: Xiong’an New Area, Hainan Island (the entire Hainan Province can use it), Guizhou Gui’an New Area, Shaanxi Xi’an New Area, as well as economically strong counties like Kunshan, Yiwu, Shunde, and some key counties for rural revitalization;

- Cross-border related pilots: Hong Kong and Macau have started cross-border payment testing. Overseas residents visiting mainland China in the short term can open digital renminbi wallets even without mainland Chinese bank accounts.

This upgrade is not only a technological evolution but also a systemic adjustment of the monetary management framework and financial ecosystem. Banks, by including deposit services and gaining interest margins, will be more motivated to promote digital renminbi and build its ecosystem. Future competition may focus on product innovation, channel integration, and user services.

Is your city part of the digital renminbi pilot? Or have you already used digital renminbi?