Anonymity Of Consumers And Transactions Crucial For Success Of Retail CBDC: SBI’s Dinesh Khara

In a media statement on Friday, the chairman of State Bank of India (SBI), Dinesh Khara, said that the retail CBDC (Central Bank Digital Currency) will be a game changer and ensure better monetary transmission at lesser costs. The SBI chief, however, pointed out that user anonymity will play a critical role here.

“The anonymity factor is critical for its acceptance. It collaborates, complements and completes the currency architecture in vogue, while also incubating further innovation,” Khara said in his statement.

With the launch of the retail CBDC, the RBI aims to further promote digitisation with the end goal of achieving a cashless, or less cash, economy. It is expected that the CBDC will help in supporting financial inclusion at all levels.

“CBDC-backed currencies are a logical next step in the journey of digital currencies. It eliminates several inefficiencies, which mar crypto currencies by providing stability and comfort of the backing of the central bank (RBI). This will usher in a new era of digitisation, which will enable commerce to be done by CBDCs,” said Deepak Kothari, the cofounder of fintech company ftcash.

Anand Kumar Bajaj, the founder, MD & CEO of PayNearby also emphasised that the participation of both merchants and customers will help in creating greater awareness and building trust around the CBDC.

“When it comes to payments done at merchants’ outlets, QR codes are already working wonders. With e₹-R also being supported via QR codes at these outlets, we hope to see greater adoption. Integration with retailers across more than 20,000 PIN codes, including kirana stores, will further accelerate the government’s initiative of a cashless nation backed by e₹-R,” Bajaj said.

Meanwhile, the enablers and stakeholders in the ecosystem are looking forward to experiencing the different features and applications of the e₹-R.

The RBI kickstarted the pilot for its retail CBDC on Thursday, December 1, by issuing INR 1.71 Cr to four participating banks – State Bank of India, ICICI Bank, Yes Bank and IDFC First Bank across Mumbai, New Delhi, Bengaluru and Bhubaneswar.

It is expected that based on user demand and bank’s liquidity requirements, the central bank will be mining more digital rupee over the next few days. The RBI launched the wholesale version of the CBDC on November 1.