7-Eleven locations in South Korea will begin accepting payments in the nation’s central bank digital currency (CBDC) through June, as the retailer engages in the trial phase of this digital currency initiative.
During this testing period, the convenience store chain is set to offer a 10% discount on all items purchased with CBDC. Moon Dae-woo, who leads the digital innovation department at 7-Eleven, stated that the company is striving to integrate advancements in digital technology into its operations.
The executive noted that participating in the CBDC trial will significantly boost the company’s ongoing digital transformation efforts.
A variety of stores will be involved in South Korea’s CBDC testing phase, which is scheduled from April 1 to June 30. The project includes 100,000 participants who will be able to test payments using CBDC issued by the central bank.
Central bank digital currencies are digital assets issued by governmental entities. Similar to other digital assets, CBDCs provide enhanced and modern payment solutions. However, in contrast to Bitcoin and other privacy-driven tokens that offer certain degrees of anonymity, CBDCs are regulated and overseen by governments.
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South Korea conducts CBDC testing from April to June
On March 24, various government bodies including the Bank of Korea, the Financial Services Commission (FSC), and the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) announced the CBDC testing initiative.
Participants will have the opportunity to convert their bank deposits into tokens that are stored on a distributed ledger during the testing phase. These tokens are equivalent to the value of the Korean won.
Government agencies indicated that citizens aged 19 and above with a deposit account at a participating bank could sign up for the trial. Registration was capped at 100,000 participants, with banks such as KB, Koomin, Shinhan, Hana, Woori, NongHyup, IBK, and Busan participating in the CBDC tests.
In addition to 7-Eleven, users will be able to spend their CBDCs at coffee shops, supermarkets, K-Pop merchandise stores, and delivery platforms. However, participants will face a total conversion cap of 5 million won ($3,416) during the test.
The Bank of Korea first announced plans for retail CBDC testing for 100,000 users back in November 2023, with the initial launch planned for the fourth quarter of 2024. The FSS emphasized that this CBDC test is a step toward developing a prototype for a “future monetary system.”
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