↘ Pilot project launched on Dec. 1 in Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Bhubaneswar, facilitated by four banks—SBI, ICICI Bank, Yes Bank and IDFC First Bank
↘ By the end of the first week of January, about 16,000 users made payments worth Rs 64 lakh in 160,000 transactions using the e-Rupee in the pilot project
↘ In UPI transactions, banks are intermediaries; one’s bank account is debited with every transaction. In the e-rupee, one builds a wallet using digital currency from banks, and uses this e-currency for transactions
↘ Though not comparable, the e-rupee will be pitted against the UPI. At the end of 2022, UPI’s total transaction value stood at Rs
