Indian retail giant Reliance Retail announced on Thursday that it has started accepting digital rupee payments to become the largest Indian firm to adopt the nation’s central bank digital currency (CBDC).
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Fast facts
- The retail branch of Fortune Global 500 firm Reliance Industries Ltd. has already started accepting digital rupee payments in one of its Freshpik grocery stores in Mumbai, Reliance Retail director V. Subramaniam told local broadcaster CNBC-TV18.
- Reliance Retail intends to expand digital rupee support to all Freshpik stores in Mumbai in the coming months, Subramaniam said.
- Reliance Retail has partnered with ICICI Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank and fintech firm Innoviti Technologies to launch in-store digital rupee payments.
- The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) started rolling out retail CBDC pilot trials in 13 cities last December.
- The RBI launched its wholesale CBDC pilot last November to test the settlement of secondary market transactions in government securities.
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