News on March 25 showed that the People’s Bank of China and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority are making every effort to promote the feasibility and implementation arrangements for digital RMB wallet upgrades.
The core goal of this initiative is to significantly increase the wallet usage limit, comprehensively expand application scenarios, and maximize user experience.
This blockbuster signal marks that the cross-border application of digital renminbi has officially entered the fast lane from pilot exploration to full-scale outbreak, and the process of renminbi internationalization has ushered in a key catalyst.
At the same time, the central bank announced a historic expansion of digital renminbi operating institutions on March 20, from the original 10 to 22, adding 7 national joint-stock banks and 5 leading city commercial banks. The service network is fully covered, providing a more solid infrastructure guarantee for the expansion of cross-border payment business.
Digital RMB 2.0 version was officially launched on January 1, 2026, and was fully upgraded from “cash type 1.0” to “deposit currency type 2.0”. The core changes include real-name wallets that can calculate interest, card-less independent activation, and full application of smart contract functions.
This wallet upgrade jointly promoted with the Hong Kong Monetary Authority focuses more on cross-border payment scenarios and focuses on solving three major pain points: first, the quota increase, which significantly increases the transaction limit of Hong Kong residents’ digital RMB wallets to meet large-amount payment needs such as cross-border trade and investment; second,
The scenarios are broadened to support financial investment scenarios such as Southbound Connect and Bond Connect, and realize the in-depth application of digital renminbi in the offshore financial market; third, the experience is optimized to simplify the cross-border transfer process, shorten settlement time, reduce transaction costs, and promote cross-border payments to be “received in seconds”.
As of the end of 2025, the Multilateral Central Bank Digital Currency Bridge (mBridge) has processed a total of 4,047 cross-border payment businesses, with a cumulative transaction amount equivalent to RMB 387.2 billion, of which digital RMB accounts for approximately 95.3% of the transaction volume in various currencies, fully demonstrating its technical advantages and market recognition in the field of cross-border payments.
Digital RMB has become a new engine for cross-border payments and has four core logics.
Technically, the distributed ledger system based on blockchain technology realizes real-time clearing of cross-border payments, significantly reducing the time cost of the traditional SWIFT system (from 3-5 days to seconds) and handling fees (from 1% –
3% dropped to less than 0.1%); in terms of policy, eight departments including the central bank jointly issued the “Opinions on Financial Support to Accelerate the Construction of the New Land-Sea Corridor in the West”, which clearly proposed to expand the regional scope of cross-border application of digital renminbi and support the in-depth participation of regions along the line in multilateral central bank digital currency bridge projects; in terms of market demand, the global “de-dollarization” trend is accelerating, and many countries are seeking alternatives to the US dollar. Digital renminbi relies on
China’s huge trade volume and stable currency value have become the preferred settlement currency for many countries; in terms of infrastructure, the CIPS system and the digital renminbi are “two-wheel drive”. As of March 2026, CIPS has expanded to 28 foreign banks as direct participants, covering 15 countries and regions including the Middle East, Southeast Asia, and Europe, providing solid network support for digital renminbi cross-border payments.
There are 4 cross-border payment leaders worthy of attention.
Lakala (300773) is the only A-share cross-border RMB fully licensed third-party payment leader. Its business covers more than 100 countries and regions around the world and serves more than 70,000 cross-border e-commerce merchants. In the first three quarters of 2025, Lakala’s cross-border payment amount reached 60.2 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 77.56%; the amount of wild card transactions increased by 210% year-on-year.
UMF, a subsidiary of Hailian Jinhui (002537), is one of the only 8 institutions in the country that holds both a “cross-border RMB payment license” and a “cross-border foreign currency payment license”. It is qualified as a direct participant in CIPS. In the context of “de-dollarization” and geopolitical turmoil, the value of the license has become prominent. In Q1 of 2026, the company’s cross-border payment business revenue accounted for 35%.
Sifang Jingchuang (300468) is deeply involved in the underlying development of the central bank’s digital currency bridge (mBridge), holds 120+ blockchain cross-border settlement patents, developed CIPS-based cross-border payment systems for Postal Savings Bank, Agricultural Development Bank of China, etc., and promoted the integration of cross-border payment systems into CIPS in Middle Eastern countries such as Saudi Arabia.
New World (000997) digital RMB POS terminal market share reaches 43.7%. Smart POS equipment covers 120 countries and regions around the world, and it actively deploys the entire cross-border payment industry chain.
However, there are also three major risks in digital RMB cross-border payments.
Technically, the digital renminbi cross-border payment system involves complex blockchain technology and cross-border financial infrastructure. Technical loopholes or system failures may affect payment security and stability. In terms of supervision, global digital currency regulatory policies have not yet been unified, and some countries are cautious about digital renminbi and may introduce restrictive measures, which will affect the expansion of cross-border payment business. In terms of competition, international payment giants such as PayPal and Stripe are also actively deploying the digital currency payment field, which may create competitive pressure on domestic cross-border payment companies.
In short, the upgrade of digital RMB wallets and the expansion of operating agencies are important milestones in the process of RMB internationalization, marking that digital RMB is moving from domestic pilots to global applications.
Under the global wave of “de-dollarization”, digital renminbi is expected to become an important part of the global cross-border payment system.
For cross-border payment companies, this is both an opportunity and a challenge.
Investors should look at the development of the industry rationally, make decisions based on their own risk tolerance, and do not blindly follow the trend of hype concepts.
