Cred, MobiKwik Launch E-Rupee Wallet In Pact With RBI, Yes Bank

Cred and One Mobikwik Systems Ltd. announced on Tuesday the launch of their respective e-rupee pilot, in collaboration with the Reserve Bank of India and Yes Bank, the companies said in their press releases.

With this move, Cred and Mobikwik became the first fintech platforms to partner with the RBI on the central bank digital currency. Yes Bank will be the first sponsor bank to enable the CBDC issuance for both these third-party application providers.

Both fintechs' e-rupee wallet supports transactions up to Rs 10,000 per transfer, with daily transaction limit of Rs 50,000 and storage up to Rs 1 lakh. These will be zero-cost merchant transactions.

Future updates will enable programmable merchant payments, Cred Pay integration and PIN-less transactions of amounts below Rs 500, with access for all Cred members in the coming months, according to the release.

With the launch of its e-rupee wallet, all Cred members whitelisted for this can pay through Unified Payments Interface-linked bank accounts and send or receive money to other CBDC wallets. 

This can be done by completing video KYC and users can create and load their e-rupee wallets via UPI.

"This groundbreaking initiative by the RBI, along with Cred, will catalyse India's economic vision, reducing cash in circulation, driving financial inclusion and digital adoption, while strengthening India's leadership in global digital finance," founder Kunal Shah said. 

Mobikwik's CBDC product is available to all its Android users, the company said.

In April, the RBI, in its monetary policy document, proposed to make the CBDC-retail accessible to a broader segment of users in a sustained manner by enabling non-bank payment system operators to offer CBDC wallets.