Mobile Payments Replace Cash in China
(MENAFN) According to a news outlet, physical money — including coins and paper notes — has nearly vanished from day-to-day transactions across China.
Whether shopping at grocery stores, enjoying a coffee at a café, or boarding public transit, people overwhelmingly depend on mobile payment platforms like WeChat Pay and Alipay for financial exchanges.
These two digital services have become indispensable for navigating everyday routines in the world’s second-largest economy, the outlet reported on Saturday.
Their logos are now ubiquitous at payment counters, with many merchants having phased out traditional cash tills. Instead of handling paper bills, sellers typically scan a QR code from the customer’s phone to finalize the transaction.
The publication highlighted that coins and notes are still occasionally used, but mostly by the oldest generations. For the wider Chinese population, however, cash has essentially disappeared from use.
This trend is especially apparent in city-based marketplaces, where even fruit and vegetable vendors utilize mobile apps for sales.
Likewise, most taxi drivers no longer take physical currency, and many small corner stores do not carry coins or bills to provide change — making the use of cash impractical.
The overwhelming reliance on WeChat and Alipay has reduced the necessity of conventional banking for younger Chinese consumers, many of whom now turn to banks only for larger financial matters like acquiring a mortgage.
In reaction to the growing influence of private financial platforms, China’s central bank has been accelerating efforts to launch a state-backed digital currency — the digital yuan — to retain monetary oversight.
Initial pilot projects began in various cities in 2019, followed by the release of a dedicated smartphone application in 2022.
Although authorities claim that 260 million digital yuan accounts have been opened, the currency has yet to become a part of routine life, overshadowed by the greater ease offered by existing payment technologies.
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