The initial impact of digital finance and mobile payments in China is difficult to over-exaggerate, says Zennon Kapron, founder and director of Asian financial services and research firm Kapronasia. The launch of services such as Alipay and WeChat Pay brought with them a dramatic change in the way the average Chinese consumer spends — especially when one considers how cash-focused the country has been historically, he explains in this paper.

“In 2010, cash represented about 60% of all retail consumption in China — in 2020, if not sooner, use of cash will shrink to less than 30%,” he says. “Digital payments, and more specifically mobile payments, have completely transformed the way that China’s consumers live.”

This paper starts by taking a look at traditional payments in China and then explores the country’s shift to digital payments, how the average Chinese consumer has become accustomed to making mobile payments through QR codes, and how the payments landscape is expected to continue its change over the years to come.

This eight-page article has been written by Zennon Kapron, founder of Kapronasia, and forms part of the second volume of NFC World’s What’s New in Payments report.

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This eight-page document is available free of charge to NFC World Knowledge Centre members (PDF format, 1.6MB).

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This item is part of What's New in Payments.