China triples digital yuan bank roster as eight more banks join network

China’s central bank just added eight more commercial banks to the digital yuan’s authorized operator list, pushing the total from 22 to 30.

The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) approved the expansion on August 17, 2026. Among the newly authorized institutions are Ping An Bank, Hengfeng Bank, and China Bohai Bank, along with five other commercial lenders. None of them are expected to flip the switch on customer-facing services immediately. They’ll need to finalize business and technical preparations first.

A year of quiet escalation

The August addition follows an even larger batch from earlier this year. In April 2026, the PBOC brought on 12 new banks in a single wave, pushing the roster up to 22. With another eight now onboarded, the total sits at 30.

On January 1, 2026, the PBOC reclassified verified e-CNY wallet balances as interest-bearing deposits. Digital yuan holders now earn interest at demand-deposit rates, which transforms the e-CNY from a cash equivalent into a deposit-like instrument.

By late November 2025, cumulative e-CNY transaction volumes had reached 3.48 billion transactions worth 16.7 trillion yuan, roughly $2.3 trillion at recent exchange rates.

Why smaller banks matter

The initial e-CNY rollout was dominated by China’s largest state-owned banks: Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Bank of China, Agricultural Bank of China, and their peers. Smaller commercial banks like Ping An and Hengfeng tend to serve regional economies and small and medium-sized enterprises, areas where the national banking giants had previously fallen short in e-CNY infrastructure.

Cross-border payments are another area where the expanded roster could make a difference. In July 2026, the PBOC launched a pilot with Singapore for cross-border e-CNY transactions.

The CBDC race, recalibrated

The expansion aligns with goals laid out in China’s 15th Five-Year Plan, which specifically targets enhanced service accessibility and greater competition in digital payments. The PBOC operates at the center of a two-tier hub-and-spoke model where authorized commercial banks serve as distribution points.

More than 130 countries have explored or are actively developing their own digital currencies, but none have achieved anything close to China’s transaction volumes. The European Central Bank’s digital euro project remains in a preparatory phase. The US has effectively shelved its CBDC research under political pressure. India’s digital rupee has seen modest traction but nothing approaching China’s scale.

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