Huawei new smartphone comes with digital yuan wallet

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Huawei’s latest range of smartphones will allow its users to store, send and receive China’s central bank digital currency. The phone will be the first in the market to feature the digital yuan wallet in yet another clear indicator that China is ready to launch its CBDC.

The forthcoming Mate 40 range of smartphones was announced recently, with some of the variants already on sale. The new range has caused excitement for many Huawei enthusiasts with its advanced camera, long battery life, great performance and sleek design. However, one feature in particular sets the phones apart—they are the first to come equipped with a digital currency wallet for the central bank’s digital yuan.

https://twitter.com/HuaweiMobile/status/1319267274306433024

According to Huawei’s Weibo channel, the new smartphones’ integrated hardware wallet will allow the users to easily store, send and receive the anticipated digital yuan. The wallet will support dual offline transactions, enabling the users to transfer funds by simply touching their devices together, even if both phones are offline.

The smartphone company promises “hardware-level security, controllable anonymity protection and dual offline transactions, bringing a new, safe and convenient payment experience.”

Huawei is yet to clarify on whether the digital yuan wallet will be available for all its users or just for those in China.

The alliance between Huawei and the People’s Bank of China with the digital yuan is strategic for both. For the PBoC, the partnership offers an easy and effective way to reach hundreds of millions of Chinese citizens who use Huawei smartphones. Huawei is the world’s second-largest smartphone maker, only behind Samsung. In China, it controls over 40% of the smartphone market, twice the market share of its closest opponent.

For Huawei, the digital yuan wallet will endear it to its Chinese customer base even more. The company has faced uncertain times in recent years, especially after it parted ways with Google and its Android operating system. With China setting up the digital yuan to become the country’s main fiat digital payments solution, its new smartphone range could receive a boost.

The digital yuan wallet is the latest news from China that indicates the PBoC is getting closer to launching its CBDC. The bank has conducted successful pilots in four major cities, with close to $300 million worth of the digital yuan already being exchanged.

To learn more about central bank digital currencies and some of the design decisions that need to be considered when creating and launching it, read nChain’s CBDC playbook.

See also: CoinGeek Live panel, Better Payments: Improving the Consumer Experience with Bitcoin