New gifting and invitation features have been added to the central People’s Bank of China’s (PBoC) digital yuan app in an effort to increase usage.
According to Beijing Business Today, the smartphone app, which was introduced in January of this year, has received yet another makeover. In March, the app received its first significant upgrade that focused on UI enhancements. But the most recent upgrade has included new features that are intended to boost adoption via social media.
The menu for gift-giving, which enables users to send financial presents to one another, is the first significant new feature. This is filled to the brim with “red envelope”-shaped electronic gift cards.
In Chinese culture, it is traditional for family members and close friends to present one another red envelopes filled with cash to celebrate milestone events like birthdays and marriages. On major occasions like the Lunar New Year and national holidays, relatives also distribute these envelopes.
As a result, the software enables users to send “red envelopes” with unique designs that are filled with virtual yuan tokens. Happy birthday and “Gong xi fa cai” (literally, “I wish you to enhance your prosperity”) are among the phrases that appear on their digital covers. The latter is the typical Lunar New Year greeting; in an English-speaking country, it would be equal to wishing someone a “Happy New Year.”
The envelopes may be sent using both the chat applications operated by Alibaba and Tencent, QQ and WeChat, respectively. If the recipient does not already have a digital yuan wallet, they will be invited to create one before redeeming the digital contents of the envelopes by installing and launching the digital yuan app.
The action is reminiscent of previous “red envelope”-themed efforts employed by the two biggest e-payment systems in the country, WeChat Pay and Alipay.
Drive for Digital Yuan Adoption by PBoC
A customisable avatar feature is the second significant addition made by the PBoC to its app in the update. Users may choose from six basic avatars thanks to this.
On the app’s UI and related places, the selected avatar will serve as the user’s representation. When people look up a person’s address, this avatar will also be shown to them.
There will be a rewards-based avatar system. The more individuals a person can convince to download and utilize the digital yuan app, the more options they will have to design their image. For those who are able to persuade three or more additional individuals to download the app, “unique” and “decorative” information are made accessible.
Compiled by Coinbold
