China's expanding sovereign digital currency has now arrived in school via a small device that allows parents to track the location and spending of their children.
New e-CNY is Now Available in Schools
The new e-CNY card, which is a small mobile phone, is being made available to students at Hainan Luxun High School in Sanya, China.
The device allows students to make payments at designated stores and make calls with select numbers. The location tracking is enabled through GPS, according to Central Banking.
Parents can even place limits on the device via the e-CNY app. China's digital currency wallet became available nationwide in January.
The app lets parents top up their children's e-wallets and access their consumption records through a special SIM card.
Parents can also select which phone numbers can reach the device, which was co-developed by the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and telecommunications companies, according to SCMP.
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Aside from the numbers of three trusted family members, the parents can add up to 20 other numbers for incoming calls to the device to help children avoid being harassed by unknown calls.
With smartphones banned by the education ministry at both primary and middle schools, the project at Hainan Luxun High School, which covers grades one to 12, aims to satisfy the needs for parents and students to communicate and address the issues of students' daily spending and commuting safety.
China's Own Central Bank Digital Currency
China was the first major economy in the world to start exploring its own central bank digital currency or CBDC in 2014, with the effort increasing in 2019.
The e-CNY is now being tested in several cities across the country, but there is no official timetable for a national launch.
The current trials remain active in Shanghai, Beijing, Xian, and Chengdu. Other cities like Suzhou and Shenzhen have been involved in promoting the e-CNY since 2019.
The trials are set to expand in 2022 to more cities and will include Hangzhou, Chongqing, Tianjin, and Guangzhou.
Hainan has been the only province to get an e-CNY trial throughout the area. As of February, 116,800 stores across the province accepted the digital currency, according to Ledger Insights.
Nationwide, the e-CNY had 261 million users by the end of 2021, double what it had in October 2021.
China's rapid push to create and develop a sovereign digital currency, known as the Digital Currency Electronic Payment or DCEP, has made the country a global leader in the area.
Many other central banks around the world have explored the development of a CBDC. Nine countries, seven of which belong to the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union, have launched a digital currency, according to the Atlantic Council.
Other 15 countries are piloting a digital currency, but China is the largest economy to do so.
The United States is among the 40 countries still researching the idea. The Federal Reserve released a research paper on CBDCs in January.
The following month, the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston released research on two architectures that could support the digital currency.
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Written by Sophie Webster
