Indian Overseas Bank (IOB) on Monday launched its Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) application (IOB Digital Rupee), enabling customers to transact conveniently using India’s Digital Rupee (e₹) through a secure and seamless digital payment mobile application.
“The IOB Digital Rupee application provides customers with a secure and user-friendly mobile application to maintain Digital Rupee Wallets and perform instant peer to peer (P2P) and peer to Merchant (P2M) transactions,” the public sector lender announced in a statement.
As per IOB, the application supports UPI interoperability, providing customers an additional digital payment option alongside existing UPI applications.
“The launch of IOB’s CBDC application marks another significant step in the Bank’s digital transformation journey. The Digital Rupee complements the existing digital payment ecosystem and offers customers a secure, convenient and innovative payment option. IOB remains committed to adopting emerging technologies that enhance customer experience and advance digital banking,” Ajay Kumar Srivastava, MD & CEO, said.
The Bank has also enabled Programmable CBDC (PCBDC) functionality in the IOB Digital Rupee application, facilitating purpose-specific disbursement and utilisation of government grants and benefits through CBDC.
The functionality also offers potential for efficient delivery of Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) and other government-sponsored benefits, the bank adds.
“The Bank is actively engaging with various government departments to explore opportunities to act as a Sponsor Bank for PCBDC-based fund disbursement programmes,” the MD and CEO said.
Published on November 9, 2026
