China pilots NFC devices for digital currency payments

Students attending Hainan Lu Xun Middle School in the Chinese city of Sanya are the first to trial a digital yuan hard wallet device that enables them to make payments to designated merchants on and off the school’s campus using China’s central bank digital currency (CBDC) as well as verify their identity using NFC.

The palm-sized device resembles a feature smartphone and also allows students to make and receive calls from selected numbers, including those of trusted family members and emergency services.

The Super SIM Hard Wallet has been developed by the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China in partnership with mobile network operators including China Mobile because of Chinese regulations banning the use of conventional smartphones by students on primary and middle school premises.