{"id":875,"date":"2017-11-10T15:28:00","date_gmt":"2017-11-10T07:28:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hiredchina.com\/articles\/2017\/11\/10\/cash-has-been-replaced-by-mobile-payments-in-china\/"},"modified":"2025-01-02T17:41:48","modified_gmt":"2025-01-02T09:41:48","slug":"cash-has-been-replaced-by-mobile-payments-in-china","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hiredchina.com\/articles\/cash-has-been-replaced-by-mobile-payments-in-china\/","title":{"rendered":"Cash Has Been Replaced By Mobile Payments In China"},"content":{"rendered":"<blockquote><p>Chinese mobile payment volume has more than doubled to USD$5 trillion in 2016, according to Analysys data cited by Hillhouse Capital. Mobile payments continue to grow rapidly in mainland China. The dominance of mobile transactions lends itself to greater<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: #3e3e3e; font-size: 16px;\">Chinese mobile payment volume has more than doubled to USD$5 trillion in 2016, according to Analysys data cited by Hillhouse Capital.\u00a0 Mobile payments continue to grow <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hiredchina.com\/jobs\">rapidly in mainland China<\/a>. The dominance of mobile transactions lends itself to greater data collection by the Chinese government.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/media.hiredchina.com\/FsStyxZaLCR7O29jnHVQss-aPKhi?imageView2\/0\/format\/webp\/q\/75\" alt=\"Youtube.jpg\" width=\"1280\" height=\"720\" title=\"\"><\/p>\n<p>Photo: Youtube<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Mobile payments are taking China by storm and changing the face of daily commerce.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">When eating out or <a target=\"_blank\" class=\"inside_link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hiredchina.com\/articles\/tag\/shopping\/\" title=\"View all posts in shopping\" >shopping<\/a> with local friends, payment is made by scanning a QR code on the restaurant\u2019s table or by presenting a similar code on a smartphone to the cashier. Spice shops, museum souvenir stores and sellers of <a href=\"https:\/\/dictionary.cambridge.org\/dictionary\/english\/traditional\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">traditional<\/a> Chinese calligraphy brushes all have signs posted advertising that they accept mobile payments.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Rather than, &#8220;Do you accept credit cards?&#8221; the new question has become &#8220;Do you accept Alipay or WeChat Pay?&#8221; The running joke is that even street beggars would rather take a mobile donation than cash.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/media.hiredchina.com\/Fj96reUiVQedUCoIDHVTaN8kZPDZ?imageView2\/0\/format\/webp\/q\/75\" alt=\"commons.wikimedia.org.JPG\" width=\"800\" height=\"536\" title=\"\">Photo: commons.wikimedia.org<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/media.hiredchina.com\/FlbiVWpEN_3X61CSMl777rI-miEA?imageView2\/0\/format\/webp\/q\/75\" alt=\"CNBC.jpg\" width=\"589\" height=\"331.1735849056604\" title=\"\"><\/p>\n<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_73 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-grey ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" aria-label=\"Toggle Table of Content\"><span class=\"ez-toc-js-icon-con\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-5'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hiredchina.com\/articles\/cash-has-been-replaced-by-mobile-payments-in-china\/#Photo_CNBC\" title=\"Photo: CNBC\">Photo: CNBC<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-5'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hiredchina.com\/articles\/cash-has-been-replaced-by-mobile-payments-in-china\/#Photo_motherboardvice\" title=\"Photo: motherboard@vice\">Photo: motherboard@vice<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-5'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hiredchina.com\/articles\/cash-has-been-replaced-by-mobile-payments-in-china\/#The_bike_unlocks_after_the_customer_scans_its_QR_code_through_a_bike-sharing_app_Photo_CNBC\" title=\"The bike unlocks after the customer scans its QR code through a bike-sharing app.\u00a0 Photo: CNBC\">The bike unlocks after the customer scans its QR code through a bike-sharing app.\u00a0 Photo: CNBC<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h5><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Photo_CNBC\"><\/span>Photo: CNBC<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h5>\n<hr \/>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Lack of red tape and a less developed financial system have apparently allowed mainland China to leapfrog the developed world into embracing mobile payments.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Mobile payment volume in the country has more than doubled to USD$5 trillion in 2016, according to Analysys data cited by Hillhouse Capital in a report put out in May of this year. In the first quarter of 2017, Alipay had 54 percent of the mobile payments <a target=\"_blank\" class=\"inside_link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hiredchina.com\/articles\/tag\/market\/\" title=\"View all posts in market\">market<\/a>, with WeChat Pay <a target=\"_blank\" class=\"inside_link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hiredchina.com\/articles\/tag\/accounting\/\" title=\"View all posts in accounting\">accounting<\/a> for 40 percent.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The Chinese mobile payment habits are also affecting other countries. More than six million Chinese citizens <a target=\"_blank\" class=\"inside_link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hiredchina.com\/articles\/tag\/travel\/\" title=\"View all posts in travel\">travel<\/a>ed abroad during the Golden Week national holiday in early October, according to state-run media outlet Xinhua. That puts pressure on popular tourist <a href=\"https:\/\/dictionary.cambridge.org\/dictionary\/english\/destination\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">destinations<\/a> like Japan and Hong Kong to add mobile payments to their service options.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/media.hiredchina.com\/FtRykxwgEkDMmyTtDPqiMjeUxdyW?imageView2\/0\/format\/webp\/q\/75\" alt=\"Tech in Asia.jpg\" width=\"800\" height=\"518\" title=\"\">Photo: Tech in Asia<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/media.hiredchina.com\/FsZEM6sBJvK-b3esePcVeu6n1QR3?imageView2\/0\/format\/webp\/q\/75\" alt=\"Internet.jpg\" width=\"1000\" height=\"667\" title=\"\">Photo: Internet<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The growth of mobile payment in China comes off a solid base of smartphone users. The ubiquitous WeChat messaging app from Chinese technology giant Tencent reached 963 million monthly active users in the second quarter of 2017. In professional settings, adding each other on WeChat is beginning to replace more traditional <a target=\"_blank\" class=\"inside_link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hiredchina.com\/articles\/tag\/business\/\" title=\"View all posts in business\">business<\/a> card exchanges.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Alipay, which is owned by Alibaba affiliate Ant Financial Services, has 520 million users, according to its <a target=\"_blank\" class=\"inside_link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hiredchina.com\/articles\/tag\/international\/\" title=\"View all posts in international\">international<\/a> website.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/media.hiredchina.com\/Fn3hbnGtc6Rn2SdjBRMxBZbYhXWk?imageView2\/0\/format\/webp\/q\/75\" alt=\"China Daily.jpg\" width=\"600\" height=\"400\" title=\"\">Photo: China Daily<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/media.hiredchina.com\/Fkkk1oKfpBZAWOyWFMTek-TPvoCd?imageView2\/0\/format\/webp\/q\/75\" alt=\"Asia Times.jpg\" width=\"960\" height=\"576\" title=\"\">Photo: Asia Times<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/media.hiredchina.com\/Fg4jGQPQafioH7ObzthJCGvpUK57?imageView2\/0\/format\/webp\/q\/75\" alt=\"QQ\u622a\u56fe20171012072851.jpg\" width=\"814\" height=\"642\" title=\"\"><\/p>\n<h5><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Photo_motherboardvice\"><\/span>Photo: motherboard@vice<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h5>\n<hr \/>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The growth of mobile payments in China has supported another business: bike sharing.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Led by a few startups, the number of bikes stacked along the side of the street or sometimes scattered alongside highways in China has exploded. The number of monthly active users has doubled from February to more than 20 million in March, according to TrustData cited by Hillhouse Capital.<\/p>\n<p>Two of the largest Chinese-based bike-sharing startups, Ofo and Mobike, say they have a combined 13 million bikes around the world and have each raised at least USD$1 billion.<\/p>\n<h5><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"The_bike_unlocks_after_the_customer_scans_its_QR_code_through_a_bike-sharing_app_Photo_CNBC\"><\/span><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/media.hiredchina.com\/FsDXYbdcUTBdlsjS2bEkctu7Wyr6?imageView2\/0\/format\/webp\/q\/75\" alt=\"104720990-MobikeLock.530x298.jpg\" width=\"589\" height=\"331.1735849056604\" title=\"\">The bike unlocks after the customer scans its QR code through a bike-sharing app.\u00a0 Photo: CNBC<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h5>\n<hr \/>\n<h5><\/h5>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The dominance of mobile payment also means companies like Ant Financial and Tencent have access to troves of personal data. That data can then be shared with the Chinese government, which prioritizes control. Some parts of China have been testing a personal credit score system linked to mobile payment data.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">But unless privacy issues have immediate negative consequences, convenience may trump all. A smartphone is increasingly the only thing someone in China needs to take with them when going out.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/media.hiredchina.com\/FlXXlKXBxtykYAuKbjvAxKMwIbVH?imageView2\/0\/format\/webp\/q\/75\" alt=\"GIC QR.jpg\" width=\"500\" height=\"543.2937181663837\" title=\"\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Chinese mobile payment volume has more than doubled to USD$5 trillion in 2016, according to Analysys data cited by Hillhouse Capital. Mobile payments continue to grow rapidly in mainland China. &#8230;","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":25760,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[954,1948,3641,60,353,306,1891,29,34,1209,30,214],"class_list":["post-875","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-funny","tag-accounting","tag-business","tag-cash-has-been-replaced-by-mobile-payments-in-china","tag-china","tag-e-china-cities","tag-hiredchina","tag-international","tag-jobs","tag-jobs-in-china","tag-market","tag-shopping","tag-travel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hiredchina.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/875","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hiredchina.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hiredchina.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hiredchina.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hiredchina.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=875"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.hiredchina.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/875\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25761,"href":"https:\/\/www.hiredchina.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/875\/revisions\/25761"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hiredchina.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25760"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hiredchina.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=875"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hiredchina.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=875"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hiredchina.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=875"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}