Cred, MobiKwik Become First Fintech Firms to Launch RBI's CBDC (e-Rupee) Wallets
Backed by Yes Bank, Cred and MobiKwik roll out e-Rupee wallets supporting UPI p2p and p2m payments, including programmable merchant transactions. Limits set at Rs 50,000 daily, Rs 10,000 per transaction, with a Rs 500 PIN-less threshold for retail payment rails.
What happened
Cred and MobiKwik become the first fintech firms to launch RBI CBDC (e-Rupee) wallets, sponsored by Yes Bank, supporting UPI p2p and p2m payments including
Key facts
- Rs 50,000 daily limit
- Rs 10,000 per transaction
- Rs 500 PIN-less threshold
Why this matters
The Yes Bank-backed sponsorship model shows partnering with a licensed bank is the fast path to CBDC access, making bank-fintech alliances a key screening criterion for e-Rupee-adjacent M&A.
What to watch
- Weekly active CBDC wallet counts and per-user transaction frequency
- RBI announcements on interoperability, limit hikes, or offline CBDC
- Entry of large PSPs (PhonePe/GPay/Paytm) into CBDC wallets
- Government adoption of programmable e-Rupee for DBT/subsidy schemes
- Any friction/complaints on PIN-less threshold or fraud incidents
- PhonePe, Google Pay, Paytm accelerate their own CBDC wallet integrations to avoid being late
- Yes Bank and other sponsor banks expand fintech partnership pipeline for CBDC rails
- RBI likely to raise transaction/daily limits and add offline capability to spur usage
- Cred/MobiKwik bundle CBDC with cashback or rewards to seed initial activation
- Merchant-side programmable pilots targeting government subsidy and B2B disbursal flows