Chinese Central Bank Digital Currency Transactions Outpace VISA at Olympics

by 99Crypto

In a report published by the Wall Street Journal on Wednesday, someone familiar with the matter stated that there were more transactions conducted utilizing China’s central bank digital currency than with Visa at the Beijing National Stadium.

However, many of the retailers accepting the digital yuan, or e-CNY, were located outside the Olympics quarantine bubble for game staff, athletes and journalists. According to the report, those placed inside the bubble were given the option to pay for goods and services with either cash, Visa, or digital yuan. The report also noted there were many automated machines for people to exchange their fiat currency to the digital yuan.

The Beijing Organizing Committee for the 2022 Winter Games alleged that the intention of utilizing the digital yuan instead of cash was to mitigate the risk of spreading COVID-19 by reducing direct contact between people.

Though many mobile payment platforms such as AliPay, WeChat Pay, and others are commonly used to transact in China, these methods were restricted at the Winter Games due to an exclusivity contract negotiated with Visa. According to reports, the credit card company has not yet objected to the digital yuan payments, potentially due to their pending domestic license application to operate in China.

Near the end of January, CNN reported that the digital yuan’s first international test run was facing hurdles due to the pandemic, as government officials were limiting international travel coming into the country. China has not yet released any data on the number of digital yuan transactions, nor the amount of athletes utilizing the central bank’s digital currency.

United States Senator Pat Toomey, a senior member of the Senate Banking Committee, requested that the U.S. administration closely monitor the Chinese government’s rollout of the central bank digital currency during the Winter Games.

The Wall Street Journal’s report also noted that the president of the Dutch Olympic Committee implied that there was little reason to use the digital yuan when Visa payments were available.

The Winter Olympics are set to conclude on February 20th.