FX.co ★ Cash becomes obsolete in China

The Chinese are doing away with cash actively. Taxi drivers, waiters and other professionals who like tips face a risk of losing a significant part of their earnings unless they get non-cash registers. Most citizens of large cities use their smartphones for purchase payments. At any shop, café, hair salon or a stall you can pay through WeChat or Alipay – the two most popular mobile wallet systems in China.

Experts say that the transition from cash payments to non-cash ones is happening at a breakneck pace. Just three years ago, this issue was out of question as the Chinese used cash only. Nowadays, the situation changed drastically. “From a tech standpoint, this is probably one of the single most important innovations that has happened first in China, and at the moment it’s only in China,” Richard Lim, managing director of venture capital firm GSR Ventures, said. According to the iResearch consulting firm, mobile payments in China hit the record level of $5.5 trillion which is about 50 times more than the size of the same US market, amounting to $112 million. As the most widely-used messengers are prohibited in China, the WeChat app has come to the fore.