India to broaden e-rupee distribution beyond banks to boost retail use, cenbank says

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) plans to use non-bank payment system operators, including third-party payment app providers, to make the e-rupee more accessible to retail users, it said on Friday. The RBI piloted its central bank digital currency (CBDC) in 2023 but only allowed banks to offer these tokens, which led to subdued transaction volumes. It has now proposed that non-bank payment system operators, which include third-party payment app providers like PhonePe, Google Pay and Paytm, offer the e-rupee through CBDC wallets.