Not an ordinary bank balance
A deposit is a commercial bank liability; a CBDC has a different issuer. An app, QR code or instant transfer does not by itself make a payment a CBDC.
FinFly Explains / Economy
CBDC: whose liability is the digital money?
A CBDC is digital money that is a direct central bank liability, denominated in the national monetary unit.
Retail and wholesale
Retail designs serve households and businesses; wholesale designs serve financial institutions. An interbank experiment is not a public wallet launch.
Design choices matter
Offline access, privacy, intermediary roles and holding limits require specific design decisions. Do not assume identical features across projects. BIS principles emphasise resilience and coexistence with other forms of money.
Reading a launch announcement
FinFly checklist: identify the issuer, eligible users and whether this is research, a pilot or an operating service. This guide explains CBDCs; it does not assert that a digital manat is publicly available.
Method
Primary sources
The explainer is checked against these institutional and industry sources. Links open the original material.