Digital Rupee a ‘game changer’ says SBI Chairman

New Delhi, Dec 03: The Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) pilot project on retail digital Rupee is a game changer, State Bank of India Chairman, Dinesh Khara said. He added that it will have durable effects which would ensure better monetary transmission at much lesser costs.

The RBI had on Thursday announced the launch of a digital Rupee retail pilot project for a closed user group."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 a statement.

Through the use of the token-based digital Rupee, citizens will be able to make or receive payments in currency in a completely digital mode. This would be done through a mobile app, a video posted on the social media by the Reserve Bank of India said on the day of the launch. The pilot launch would first be available in select cities and few banks.

Transactions can be both person-to-person and person-to-merchant. The payments to merchants can be made using quick response codes displayed at the merchant locations, an RBI statement released before the launch said.

Eight banks have been identified the central bank said. In the first phase four banks namely State Bank of India, ICICI Bank, Yes Bank and IDFC First Bank have been identified. Four more banks namely Union Bank of India, Bank of Baroda, HDFC Bank and Kotak Mahindra will join this pilot soon the RBI said.

RBI also said that the pilot would cover Mumbai, New Delhi, Bengaluru and Bhubaneswar in the first phase. It would be later be extended to Shimla, Ahmedabad, Gangtok, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Indore, Kochi, Lucknow and Patna, the RBI also said.