At the beginning of 2026, the field of cross-border payments is ushering in major changes. The innovative model detonated by Currency Bridge is making the digital renminbi available in “seconds” a reality, reshaping the global financial landscape.
A cross-border trade payment of 68 million yuan was received in real time from Shenzhen to Hong Kong through the Currency Bridge platform. The process that used to take 1-3 days now only takes a few seconds. Chinese companies are enjoying the unprecedented convenience of cross-border payments.
In early 2026, there were frequent good news in the field of multilateral central bank digital currency bridge (mBridge).
The Sichuan Branch of the Bank of China handled digital renminbi cross-border settlement transactions for a group through the Currency Bridge, filling a gap in this field in Guang’an City.
Almost at the same time, China Guangfa Bank also announced the successful completion of the first Currency Bridge cross-border remittance business under the agency model.
In just one month, from Sichuan to Guangdong, from large state-owned banks to joint-stock banks, currency bridge business has flourished everywhere.
New breakthroughs in cross-border payments, currency bridge business accelerated.
At the beginning of the year, a number of commercial banks intensively launched the multilateral central bank digital currency bridge cross-border payment business, marking the transition of this innovative payment model from a pilot to a regular operation.
The transaction completed by Bank of China Sichuan Branch under the guidance of the People’s Bank of China is not only an important breakthrough for the bank, but also the first digital RMB cross-border settlement transaction in the Guang’an Free Trade Zone.
Shanwei Branch of the Agricultural Bank of China handled RMB 22 million in cross-border payment business for an import and export enterprise through Currency Bridge.
Fenghua Rural Commercial Bank also successfully handled the first digital currency bridge cross-border payment business for a trading company within its jurisdiction, and the funds were transferred to a designated account in Hong Kong in real time.
Small and medium-sized banks are rapidly entering the cross-border payment market through the “borrowing bridge to go overseas” strategy. State-owned large banks serve as core nodes and directly connect to the underlying system of the currency bridge, while small and medium-sized banks participate through the agent bank model, breaking the “Matthew Effect” of traditional cross-border finance and allowing small and medium-sized banks to provide efficient services without building their own cross-border networks.
Since Money Bridge entered the minimum viable product (MVP) stage in June 2024, the transaction size has grown rapidly.
As of the end of November 2025, Currency Bridge has processed a total of 4,047 cross-border payment businesses, with a cumulative transaction amount equivalent to RMB 387.2 billion, of which digital RMB accounts for as high as 95.3%.
Technology has reshaped the transaction experience, and cross-border payment costs have been significantly reduced.
The core advantage of Currency Bridge lies in its revolutionary efficiency improvement and cost reduction.
Based on actual transaction data, Currency Bridge can shorten cross-border payment time from the traditional 3-5 days to 6-9 seconds, achieving “second-level arrival” and “transaction settlement”.
In terms of cost, Currency Bridge relies on blockchain to achieve “point-to-point” clearing, eliminating the intermediary link and reducing cross-border payment costs by 60% – 80%.
The person in charge of a company that completed cross-border settlement through Currency Bridge said: “Compared with traditional SWIFT remittances, we not only save handling fees, but also greatly shorten the capital turnover cycle and improve the efficiency of capital use.” The Currency Bridge project was jointly sponsored by the Digital Currency Research Institute of the People’s Bank of China and the Bank for International Settlements.
Jointly built by the Bank of China (Hong Kong) Innovation Center, the Bank of Thailand, the Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, it is committed to creating a cross-border payment solution that is efficient, low-cost, highly scalable and meets regulatory requirements, and solves the pain points of the traditional cross-border payment system such as low efficiency, high cost and lack of transparency.
The cross-border nature of digital renminbi has become increasingly prominent.
With the rapid development of currency bridge business, the cross-border nature of digital renminbi has become increasingly prominent.
Official data shows that as of the end of November 2025, digital renminbi has processed a total of 3.48 billion transactions, with a cumulative transaction amount of 16.7 trillion yuan.
The number of personal wallets opened through the digital RMB APP has reached 230 million, and the number of corporate wallets has reached 18.84 million.
The digital RMB pilot has moved from “scenario broadening” to a new stage of “scenario deepening” and is being integrated into every corner of the Chinese economy at an unprecedented speed.
Various regions are also actively deploying key annual digital renminbi tasks. For example, Shanghai will steadily develop digital renminbi; Yunnan will “accelerate the construction of digital renminbi border trade scenarios”; Sichuan is committed to “expanding the digital renminbi acceptance environment and customer base.”
On January 1, 2026, the new generation of digital RMB measurement framework and management system was officially implemented, the APP was upgraded to version 2.0, and interest on the balance of the digital RMB wallet began to be calculated based on current deposits.
Commercial banks are actively deploying to seize the new track of digital finance.
Faced with the opportunities brought by Currency Bridge, various commercial banks have actively deployed and formulated differentiated participation strategies.
Relying on global networks and resources, major state-owned banks take the lead in system docking and standard formulation, and invest heavily in technology research and development and compliance teams.
Joint-stock banks focus on customer needs and expand agency models and special scenarios. China Guangfa Bank’s first currency bridge cross-border remittance business under the agency model is an important breakthrough.
Commercial banks’ deployment of currency bridge business mainly includes cost reduction, efficiency improvement, differentiated competition, improvement of customer stickiness, ecological card space and other business motivations.
Experts pointed out that the currency bridge is becoming a new track for commercial banks to compete, opening up a more flexible and hierarchical infrastructure space for the internationalization of the RMB.
Prospects: From cross-border payments to RMB internationalization.
The development of the Currency Bridge has provided technical support and infrastructure guarantee for the internationalization of the RMB. China and its digital RMB have the influence to export technical standards and participate in the formulation of new rules for cross-border payments.
Currency Bridge has unique institutional inclusiveness, which lowers the technical and institutional threshold for other countries to join the system.
As the project continues to expand, the application scope and institutional influence of the digital renminbi are expected to grow exponentially.
In the future, with the further expansion of pilot projects and the continuous improvement of technology, the digital renminbi is expected to play a greater role in promoting green consumption and promoting sustainable development.
The Digital RMB APP has launched the “Carbon Inclusive” mini program service in the life service area, taking the lead in landing in Shanghai, quantifying the carbon emission reductions generated by users’ green and low-carbon behaviors into “carbon points”, which can be exchanged for digital RMB.
From cross-border payments to RMB internationalization, from green finance to inclusive finance, the digital RMB is being integrated into all areas of the Chinese economy with unprecedented breadth and depth. As the currency bridge business accelerates, it is reshaping the global financial landscape.
