On September 4, the State Bank of India, the nation’s largest lender, announced the integration of unified payments interface (UPI) interoperability into its digital rupee (e₹) or central bank digital currency (CBDC). The bank’s press release highlighted its commitment to providing convenience and accessibility to its customers.
This new feature, accessible through the ‘eRupee by SBI’ application, enables SBI CBDC users to initiate transactions by scanning any merchant’s UPI QR code, as stated in the bank’s release.
The central bank initially introduced the digital rupee in a pilot program on October 31, 2022, targeting the wholesale segment and involving nine participating banks. These banks include State Bank of India (SBI), Bank of Baroda (BoB), Union Bank of India, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Yes Bank, IDFC First Bank, and HSBC.
A month later, the RBI expanded the pilot to encompass the retail segment, offering the e₹-R for everyday transactions. Eight banks are actively participating in this retail pilot project: SBI, ICICI Bank, Yes Bank, IDFC First Bank, BoB, Union Bank of India, HDFC Bank, and Kotak Mahindra Bank.
In the pilot phase, banks are inviting select customers and merchants to explore the services via their mobile applications, allowing users to engage in peer-to-peer and peer-to-merchant transactions.
