Ant Group, a subsidiary of Chinese internet giant Alibaba, will be one of the first large private organizations in China to take part in the digital yuan (e-CNY) test. This was announced on Monday by the state resource China Securities Journal.

Ant has a 30 percent stake in MYbank, an online bank that provides individual users with the ability to connect their checking accounts to the digital yuan program. The new feature is available through the Ant Alipay app, which is one of the two most popular mobile payment apps in China.

Last year, the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) handed out several million US dollars worth of digital yuan to users through an app supported by six major state-owned banks as part of pilot test projects. As part of the testing, users were able to pay in digital yuan for purchases in select stores and on the e-commerce company JD.com marketplace.

Commenting on the resource’s messages, Ant Group confirmed that it will participate in testing the digital yuan together with MYbank.

“As one of the e-CNY test participants, MYbank, an associate of Ant Group, will continue testing in accordance with the guidance of the People’s Bank of China, – said the company. – Ant Group, along with MyBank, will also continue to support e-CNY’s research and development. ”

MYbank previously reported that it had over 35 million customers at the end of last year, a 68% increase over the previous year.