Kunal Shah's CRED has announced the beta launch of its e₹ wallet, developed in collaboration with the Reserve Bank of India and sponsored by YES BANK, making it the first fintech platform to implement RBI’s Central Bank Digital Currency.
The initiative aims to further India’s digital currency goals by providing select CRED members early access to the new payment option, the release notes.
The fintech unicorn said that the wallet combines the trust and safety of a sovereign currency with the frictionless CRED payments experience.
Offering zero-cost merchant transactions
CRED members whitelisted for the beta can pay UPI-linked bank accounts, and send/receive money to other CBDC wallets. After completing video KYC, users can create and load their e₹ wallets via UPI.
The wallet supports transactions up to Rs 10,000 per transfer (Rs 50,000 daily limit) and storage up to Rs 1 lakh, with zero-cost merchant transactions.
Future updates will enable programmable merchant payments, CRED Pay integration and PIN-less transactions below Rs 500, with access for all CRED members in the coming months.
Kunal Shah's comment
Kunal Shah, founder of CRED, said, "The e₹ wallet is a milestone in India's financial evolution. With the support of RBI, we're enabling the creditworthy to shape the future of digital currency in the world's fastest-growing economy. Our goal is to make e₹ transactions frictionless and drive its adoption among the most creditworthy Indians."
In April 2024, the RBI, in its monetary policy document, proposed to make CBDC Retail accessible to a broader segment of users in a sustained manner by enabling non-bank payment system operators to offer CBDC wallets.
In this, the RBI said, "This is expected to enhance access and expand choices available to users apart from testing the resiliency of the CBDC platform to handle multi-channel transactions."
YES BANK facilitating the issuance of CBDC tokens
Acting as the sponsor bank, YES BANK facilitates the issuance of CBDC tokens from RBI to CRED, a Non-Banking Payment Service Operator (NBPSO).
Prashant Kumar, Managing Director & CEO of YES BANK, said, “YES BANK is proud to partner with CRED in this pioneering venture under RBI’s guidance. As the sponsor bank, we are committed to enabling secure and efficient integration of the e-rupee wallet, setting new benchmarks for digital payments in India.”