It's impossible to live in China without an internet connected phone

[Anonymous]

Cash is already pretty much dead in China as the country lives the future with mobile pay



Mainland Chinese stores and services are increasingly centered around mobile pay apps like WeChat Pay and Alipay.

Chinese mobile payment volume more than doubled to $5 trillion in 2016, according to Analysys data cited by Hillhouse Capital.

Mobile pay is growing so rapidly in mainland China that as a foreigner, I sometimes found it difficult to complete basic transactions without it.

The dominance of mobile transactions lends itself to greater data collection by the Chinese government.



Mobile pay is taking China by storm and changing daily commerce.



The transformation of a society limited to bills denominated in 100 yuan ($15) or less into one where QR payment codes abound was by far the biggest change in mainland China since my last visit four years ago.



When eating out or shopping with local friends, they paid by scanning a QR code on the restaurant table or by showing a similar code on their smartphones to the store clerk. A spices shop, museum souvenir store and seller of traditional Chinese calligraphy brushes all had signs saying they accepted mobile pay.



Rather than, "Do you take credit cards?" the question was often "Do you take Alipay? WeChat Pay?" The running joke was that street beggars would rather take a mobile donation than cash.



Lack of red tape and a less developed financial system have apparently allowed mainland China to leapfrog the developed world into embracing mobile payments.



Mobile payment volume in the country more than doubled to $5 trillion in 2016, according to Analysys data cited by Hillhouse Capital in a May report. In the first quarter of this year, Alipay had 54 percent of that mobile payments market, and WeChat Pay accounted for 40 percent, the study said.



The Chinese mobile pay habit is also affecting other countries. More than 6 million Chinese traveled abroad during the "Golden Week" national holiday in early October, according to state-backed media outlet Xinhua. That puts pressure on popular tourist destinations like Japan and Hong Kong to add mobile pay services.



Just over the border in Hong Kong, I heard a few mainland Chinese customers asking a store clerk to scan their phones' QR codes while Cantonese-speaking locals paid in cash. In April, Nikkei reported that the number of stores accepting Alipay in Japan will double to 45,000 this year, according to the regional head of Ant Financial Services.

https://www.cnbc.com/2017/10/08/china-is-living-the-future-of-mobile-pay-right-now.html">https://www.cnbc.com/2017/10/08/china-i ... t-now.html">https://www.cnbc.com/2017/10/08/china-is-living-the-future-of-mobile-pay-right-now.html



They are well ahead of Korea e-commerce.

[Anonymous]

Hong Kong-based research investment company CLSA expects Chinese electronic payments volume to quadruple to 300 trillion yuan by 2021. During that time, online wealth management products' assets under management should triple to 6.7 trillion yuan and online loans could also triple to 3.5 trillion, said Elinor Leung, head of Asia Telecom and Internet Research at CLSA.



"High mobile internet and ecommerce penetration, and an underdeveloped traditional financial market will drive growth," Leung said in a Sept. 5 report.



Mobile pay is growing so rapidly in mainland China that as a foreigner I sometimes found it difficult to complete basic transactions without it.



When I tried to pay at a Beijing McDonald's on a late night, the only payment options were China's Union Pay credit card system, Apple Pay or WeChat Pay and Alipay. As an American visitor without a Chinese bank account, I wasn't able to find a way to use those systems and the store clerk wouldn't take my cash.



"Cash is accepted in all McDonald's restaurants across China. After our investigation, we believe this is an isolated case that happened during night shift change, and thus, all cash counters were temporarily closed," a McDonald's China Customer Care Center told me in an email.



Taxis were also nearly impossible to hail in Beijing due to the rise of Didi, a ride-hailing app that bought Uber's China operations in a deal worth $35 billion last summer. Because Didi was linked through WeChat, I couldn't use it without a Chinese bank account.



When I finally did get a taxi, the driver gave me a fake 50 yuan bill in change. Several stores also claimed three of my 100 yuan bills from a New York money exchange were counterfeit. If I could participate in the cashless society, I would not have lost about $50.



The growth of mobile pay in China has supported another business: bike sharing.



Led by a few start-ups, the number of bikes stacked along the side of the street or sometimes scattered even alongside highways in China has exploded. The number of monthly active users doubled from February to more than 20 million in March, according to TrustData cited by Hillhouse Capital.



Two of the largest Chinese-based start-ups, Ofo and Mobike, say they have a combined more than 13 million bikes around the world and have each raised at least $1 billion.



Incidentally, Mobike entered the U.S. on Sept. 20 by deploying bikes in Washington, D.C., while Ofo made its first foray into the country by launching in Seattle in August.



The dominance of mobile pay also means companies like Ant Financial and Tencent have access to hordes 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 pay data.



But unless privacy issues have immediate negative consequences, convenience may trump all. A smartphone is increasingly the only thing someone in China needs to carry when going out.

https://www.cnbc.com/2017/10/08/china-is-living-the-future-of-mobile-pay-right-now.html">https://www.cnbc.com/2017/10/08/china-i ... t-now.html">https://www.cnbc.com/2017/10/08/china-is-living-the-future-of-mobile-pay-right-now.html



This is essential information for anyone travelling to China for business.

[Anonymous]

How easy it is for the government to keep tabs on the masses.

[Vancouver]

Here in Canada I just use Google Pay for transactions under $100. The checkout at my local Walmart still doesn't accept tap. A number of retailers here such as London Drugs will take WeChat Pay and Alipay. Google Pay I don't need internet to use once set up.

[Anonymous]

Here in Canada I just use Google Pay for transactions under $100. The checkout at my local Walmart still doesn't accept tap. A number of retailers here such as London Drugs will take WeChat Pay and Alipay. Google Pay I don't need internet to use once set up.

I was wondering if Vancouver stores accepted China pay options.

[Anonymous]

Here in Canada I just use Google Pay for transactions under $100. The checkout at my local Walmart still doesn't accept tap. A number of retailers here such as London Drugs will take WeChat Pay and Alipay. Google Pay I don't need internet to use once set up.

How does Google Pay work? I still use credit cards or debit.

[Vancouver]

How does Google Pay work? I still use credit cards or debit.

You add your credit and or debit card onto the Google Pay app. Just tap with your phone to pay with credit or debit at wherever credit and/or debit is accepted. Google Pay is for people who don't want to pull their cards out of their wallet or carry cards for that matter.



WeChat Pay and Alipay can only be used where WeChat Pay and Alipay are accepted. They are more like PayPal. You open the WeChat app and bring up the QR Code for the merchant to scan.

[Anonymous]

Cash is already pretty much dead in China as the country lives the future with mobile pay



Mainland Chinese stores and services are increasingly centered around mobile pay apps like WeChat Pay and Alipay.

Chinese mobile payment volume more than doubled to $5 trillion in 2016, according to Analysys data cited by Hillhouse Capital.

Mobile pay is growing so rapidly in mainland China that as a foreigner, I sometimes found it difficult to complete basic transactions without it.

The dominance of mobile transactions lends itself to greater data collection by the Chinese government.



Mobile pay is taking China by storm and changing daily commerce.



The transformation of a society limited to bills denominated in 100 yuan ($15) or less into one where QR payment codes abound was by far the biggest change in mainland China since my last visit four years ago.



When eating out or shopping with local friends, they paid by scanning a QR code on the restaurant table or by showing a similar code on their smartphones to the store clerk. A spices shop, museum souvenir store and seller of traditional Chinese calligraphy brushes all had signs saying they accepted mobile pay.



Rather than, "Do you take credit cards?" the question was often "Do you take Alipay? WeChat Pay?" The running joke was that street beggars would rather take a mobile donation than cash.



Lack of red tape and a less developed financial system have apparently allowed mainland China to leapfrog the developed world into embracing mobile payments.



Mobile payment volume in the country more than doubled to $5 trillion in 2016, according to Analysys data cited by Hillhouse Capital in a May report. In the first quarter of this year, Alipay had 54 percent of that mobile payments market, and WeChat Pay accounted for 40 percent, the study said.



The Chinese mobile pay habit is also affecting other countries. More than 6 million Chinese traveled abroad during the "Golden Week" national holiday in early October, according to state-backed media outlet Xinhua. That puts pressure on popular tourist destinations like Japan and Hong Kong to add mobile pay services.



Just over the border in Hong Kong, I heard a few mainland Chinese customers asking a store clerk to scan their phones' QR codes while Cantonese-speaking locals paid in cash. In April, Nikkei reported that the number of stores accepting Alipay in Japan will double to 45,000 this year, according to the regional head of Ant Financial Services.

https://www.cnbc.com/2017/10/08/china-is-living-the-future-of-mobile-pay-right-now.html">https://www.cnbc.com/2017/10/08/china-i ... t-now.html">https://www.cnbc.com/2017/10/08/china-is-living-the-future-of-mobile-pay-right-now.html



They are well ahead of Korea e-commerce.

This is why Visa, MC and American Express never really cracked the US market.

[Anonymous]

The mainland is ahead of Taiwan when it comes to a cashless society.

[Gaon]

Cash is already pretty much dead in China as the country lives the future with mobile pay



Mainland Chinese stores and services are increasingly centered around mobile pay apps like WeChat Pay and Alipay.

Chinese mobile payment volume more than doubled to $5 trillion in 2016, according to Analysys data cited by Hillhouse Capital.

Mobile pay is growing so rapidly in mainland China that as a foreigner, I sometimes found it difficult to complete basic transactions without it.

The dominance of mobile transactions lends itself to greater data collection by the Chinese government.



Mobile pay is taking China by storm and changing daily commerce.



The transformation of a society limited to bills denominated in 100 yuan ($15) or less into one where QR payment codes abound was by far the biggest change in mainland China since my last visit four years ago.



When eating out or shopping with local friends, they paid by scanning a QR code on the restaurant table or by showing a similar code on their smartphones to the store clerk. A spices shop, museum souvenir store and seller of traditional Chinese calligraphy brushes all had signs saying they accepted mobile pay.



Rather than, "Do you take credit cards?" the question was often "Do you take Alipay? WeChat Pay?" The running joke was that street beggars would rather take a mobile donation than cash.



Lack of red tape and a less developed financial system have apparently allowed mainland China to leapfrog the developed world into embracing mobile payments.



Mobile payment volume in the country more than doubled to $5 trillion in 2016, according to Analysys data cited by Hillhouse Capital in a May report. In the first quarter of this year, Alipay had 54 percent of that mobile payments market, and WeChat Pay accounted for 40 percent, the study said.



The Chinese mobile pay habit is also affecting other countries. More than 6 million Chinese traveled abroad during the "Golden Week" national holiday in early October, according to state-backed media outlet Xinhua. That puts pressure on popular tourist destinations like Japan and Hong Kong to add mobile pay services.



Just over the border in Hong Kong, I heard a few mainland Chinese customers asking a store clerk to scan their phones' QR codes while Cantonese-speaking locals paid in cash. In April, Nikkei reported that the number of stores accepting Alipay in Japan will double to 45,000 this year, according to the regional head of Ant Financial Services.

https://www.cnbc.com/2017/10/08/china-is-living-the-future-of-mobile-pay-right-now.html">https://www.cnbc.com/2017/10/08/china-i ... t-now.html">https://www.cnbc.com/2017/10/08/china-is-living-the-future-of-mobile-pay-right-now.html



They are well ahead of Korea e-commerce.

Israel is trying to move towards a cashless society. It makes it harder for organized crime.

[Frood]

It's super dangerous. The government and corporations will know everything.

[Gaon]

It's super dangerous. The government and corporations will know everything.

And the Chinese version of a cashless society appears to be a near monopoly.

[Anonymous]

It's super dangerous. The government and corporations will know everything.

And the Chinese version of a cashless society appears to be a near monopoly.

I don't know about that Gaon, but the big companies dominate..



Do you use Paypal?

[Anonymous]

Credit cards are still the most common payment method in Korea. Consumer debt is a big problem in Korea like it is in Canada.

[Anonymous]

How does Google Pay work? I still use credit cards or debit.

You add your credit and or debit card onto the Google Pay app. Just tap with your phone to pay with credit or debit at wherever credit and/or debit is accepted. Google Pay is for people who don't want to pull their cards out of their wallet or carry cards for that matter.

That sounds convenient.