[NEWS] National Bank of Kazakhstan makes first retail payment using CBDC "Digital Tenge"

On the 15th, the National Bank of Kazakhstan announced that it had conducted the first retail payment in the pilot version of the CBDC (central bank digital currency) "Digital Tenge".

The National Bank of Kazakhstan has invited major Kazakh banks and their customers to participate and launched a digital tenge platform as a pilot version. Bank customers can use digital tenge by opening a digital account in the bank's mobile application.

In addition to payments and transfers between digital accounts, the bank used "digital vouchers" introduced in cooperation with the Almaty city government to carry out automatic payments in the framework of social support measures using smart contracts. Digital vouchers are a service that allows discount coupons to be issued using smartphones.

Participating banks are also issuing digital cards in cooperation with international payment systems. Seamless integration with existing payment infrastructure at other banks has made it possible to make payments and transfers in digital tenge.

In the future, the bank plans to expand services, usage scenarios, and the environment for platform participants by the end of 2025, aiming to fully introduce digital tenge.

In September of this year, the National Bank of Kazakhstan officially announced the establishment of an organization to lead the development and introduction of digital tenge. The National Payment Corporation (NPC) is a reorganization of the Kazakhstan Interbank Settlement Center. The new organization said it would oversee the national payment system, including interbank clearing services, remittances, and digital IDs.

Binance also participates in the project

The development of digital tenge was announced in 2021 as a digital pilot project by the National Bank of Kazakhstan in cooperation with financial market participants, expert communities, and international partner cryptocurrency exchange Binance.

Last year, a study was conducted on the benefits and costs of introducing digital tenge. In June of the same year, the Digital Tenge Cooperation Platform was launched.

The president also led the development of a decision-making framework for the introduction of digital tenge. The committee formulated a recommendation decision on the need for the creation of a CBDC in Kazakhstan, conducted a related comprehensive study, and determined the benefits and costs of introducing the digital tenge.

Development of the digital tenge began in February of this year. In addition, in June, Binance announced that it would partner with Kazakhstan's Freedom Finance Bank to launch a regulated digital asset platform, allowing users to transfer fiat currency to their accounts on the platform.

Reference:Announcement
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