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Cashless China

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The Chinese have, to an extent, leapfrogged the credit and debit card revolution that overtook advanced economies in the last century, with most of new adopters using mobile technology to go cashless… almost two-thirds of online sales and more than one third of payments in stores were now made through leading mobile wallet operators including Alipay and WeChat Pay.

From China's march to be the world's first cashless society: China Daily contributor, East Asia News & Top Stories - The Straits Times.

 

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"Technically, it's illegal for Chinese merchants to refuse payment in cash, but this rule is hardly ever enforced, and China has been sprinting to a cashless society that requires mobile devices -- not credit-cards -- to effect payments, even to street hawkers.

This has lots of implications for privacy, surveillance, taxation, and fairness, but in the short term, the biggest impact is on visitors to China, who are increasingly unable to buy anything because they lack Chinese payment apps like Wechat, and even when they install them, the apps' support for non-Chinese bank accounts and credit cards is spotty-to-nonexistent."

From "Foreigners visiting China are increasingly stumped by its cashless society / Boing Boing".

 

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The last time that I went to China

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Foreign visitors in China finally will be able to use Alipay to pay for goods and services, marking the first time that Alibaba has opened up access to its e-wallet outside of its user population. Previously available only to consumers with a Chinese bank account and local mobile number, an international version of Alipay can be downloaded and used in mainland China over a 90-day period.

Alipay open to foreign visitors for first time | ZDNet:

 

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Chinese payments giant WeChat Pay can now be used by foreign visitors to pay for goods and services in China.

WeChat Pay follows Alipay in allowing foreign visitors to make payments in China | ZDNet:

 

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