As of December 2023, around 954 million people used mobile payments in China. After the growth rate of new users began to taper off after 2017, the outbreak of COVID-19 caused an influx of many new users.
Digital money over hard cash
Two companies have completely changed commerce in China. Alibaba and Tencent are the two main providers of mobile payments in the country with their platforms WeChat Pay and Alipay. A high penetration rate of mobile phones and the popularity of e-commerce have aided the popularization and adaption of mobile payments. Today, mobile payments are the primary vehicle to transfer money.
The next step
After payments have become digital, the currency is going to become digital next. In 2017, the Chinese government greenlighted the plans of the country’s central bank to develop a digital currency. Since 2020, the Digital Yen was slowly rolled out to the public through several testing circles. According to the People’s Bank of China, a digital currency would help regulators to reduce money laundering, corruption, and other illicit activities.
