RBI's digital currency to be revealed 'very shortly' – governor says issues are still being sorted out internally

• Shaktikanta Das, the RBI governor, has revealed that work on India’s digital currency is in progress.
• He noted that the project has the full attention of RBI, and that the bank is tying up “loose ends”.
• A digital currency will help the RBI save on costs associated with printing notes, minting coins, and storing them.

India is working on its digital currency and according to the RBI governor Shaktikanta Das, it could be revealed “very shortly”. However, he refrained from giving any specific timeline.

Das was delivering a keynote speech addressing the Bombay Chamber of Commerce and Industry, where he touched upon a wide range of topics, including the burning issue of the steep rise in petrol and diesel prices.

Das also added that the digital currency project is “receiving our full attention” and that the bank is tying up the loose ends.

When it is rolled out, India will join China, Singapore and others which have their own national digital currencies. Countries like Japan, Russia and Sweden are also working on their own alternatives.

What is a digital currency?

As the name signifies, digital currency is an electronic form of the national currency. It is managed, stored and shared in electronic form over the internet.

Cryptocurrencies are also a form of digital currency.

How is digital currency different from bank notes and coins?

Simply put, digital currency is stored in an electronic form. You can hold them in digital wallets, for instance – similar to how we currently hold money in wallets offered by different companies like Paytm, PhonePe and others.

Digital currencies will be completely electronic and come with their own benefits, some of which are explained below.

What are the benefits of digital currency?

Using digital currency will allow you to store money in digital wallets. Since the RBI does not have to print them, it saves on printing and material costs that are incurred for printing notes and minting coins.

Additionally, since they are stored electronically, the RBI and banks save on costs that are incurred on storing notes and coins.

Transactions made with digital currencies are also instantaneous since both the sender and receiver transact over the internet. This is fairly similar to how we currently transact via wallets or unified payments interface (UPI), electronic fund transfer (EFT) or other electronic modes of payment.

“No fees will be required to paid to banks for money transfers or for holding a bank account,” said Massimo Buonomo, a former United Nations expert on blockchain and cryptocurrency, highlighting that there are more cost savings for everyone involved in the payments process – including banks and their customers.

Buonomo further highlighted that the transaction fees collected by payment processing firms like Visa and MasterCard would also be saved while making payments using debit and credit cards.

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