1 . AI, 5G, cloud computing and other digital technologies are not only changing our lives but shaping the economy as well.
China’s six major commercial banks are stepping up digital wallet efforts to provide new drive for the e-CNY (数字人民币) trials in the country, as reported by Shanghai Securities News on March 23.
“The functions and properties of the-CNY are exactly the same as those of the paper currency, except that the form is digital,” said Mu Changchun, head of the People’s Bank of China’s Digital Currency Research Institute.
Many people are puzzled by e-CNY and electronic payments. “Digital currency has the characteristics of both paper money and electronic payment,” said Wu Qianhong, a professor at the School Electronic and Information Engineering, Beihang University. “In theory, digital currency can replace paper money, Alipay and WeChat payments.”
Compared with Alipay and WeChat payments, e-CNY features anonymity (匿名性) and security. E-commerce platforms that accept payments via e-CNY will not have access to user’s personal information. E-CNY users can open an anonymous digital wallet by registering a mobile phone number, and telecom operators cannot disclose (泄露) customer information to the central bank or any third-party institutions. Mu noted that e-CNY user’s privacy protection is at the highest level among all the existing payment tools.
Similar to Alipay and WeChat payments, using e-CNY requires an account. After obtaining the other party’s account number, users can enter the amount of digital money to transfer (转钱) and then enter the payment password to complete the transaction (交易). However, the process behind these transfers are different. For electronic payments, the transfer has to go through a third party, and the receivers will get the transferred money only when they withdraw money from banks. But e-CNY transfers only need a payer and a receiver to complete a transaction. Therefore, it guarantees risk-free payments, according to Wu.
In simple terms, e-CNY can be considered “money”, while electronic payments are like “wallets”.
1. What can we know about e-CNY?| A．It is issued by six major commercial banks. |
| B．It combines paper money and electronic payment. |
| C．It is designed to replace Alipay and WeChat payments. |
| D．It has exactly the same function as other payment tools. |
| A．By limiting access to personal information. |
| B．By storing personal data in the central bank. |
| C．By opening a unique digital wallet for each user. |
| D．By linking telecom operators to a mobile phone number. |
| A．E-NCY transfers require to go through a third party. |
| B．E-NCY is more convenient than other electronic payments. |
| C．E-NCY can be transferred without the receiver’s information. |
| D．E-NCY and electronic payments ensure security in the same way. |
| A．To promote the use of e-NCY. |
| B．To inform readers of digital RMB. |
| C．To compare different types of payments. |
| D．To describe the impact of digital technologies. |
