The Cashless Society Has Arrived

Abstract

This study explores from a consumer perspective the underlying factors that made China a cashless society. The results of principal component analysis (PCA) show that four major factors influenced the high Mpay adoption in China: government support and sponsorship, simple to use technology infrastructure QR Code rather than the NFC technology, ease of use convenience and safety of the Mpay apps, and savings incentives because of the lack of any associated fees with Mpay transactions both for the consumer and small businesses. Favorable government regulatory framework or lack thereof being the major enabler of the primarily wide Mpay adoption in China, in addition to the direct Chinese government sponsorship of Mpay use as the most important antecedent factors influencing the adoption of Mpay in China, where a government sponsorship and sanctioning for economic development and financial services inclusion purposes led to the burgeoning of this FinTech innovation in China.

Chinese older adults' social media use: a study of WeChat from a social practice perspective

“…Our findings are situated within the context of the rapidly increasing growth of the Internet in China (Zhu et al, 2020) and its impacts on the older generation (Oreglia, 2014). China is increasingly becoming a cashless society, with payment apps such as AliPay and WeChat Pay being preferred payment methods over the use of cash (Kennedyd et al, 2020). In addition, the embedded traditional Chinese values, and the unique context of growing up in hardship during the Chinese Cultural Revolution (1966)(1967)(1968)(1969)(1970)(1971)(1972)(1973)(1974)(1975)(1976)) has a strong influence on this generation's social practices of social media use.…”

Governing for food security during the COVID-19 pandemic in Wuhan and Nanjing, China

“…Another pre-pandemic condition that facilitated food security during COVID-19 was the widespread integration of digital technology into everyday life ( Zhang, 2019 ; Li et al, 2022 ). China is one of the leading cashless societies in the world ( Kennedy et al 2020 ; Lee, 2021 ). As McGregor (2021) notes, “in many cities across China, it has become increasingly difficult to hail and pay for a taxi, buy groceries, or even settle a bill at a restaurant without access to a mobile wallet.” Furthermore, the familiarity of most of the population with digital tools meant that it was easier for city governments across the country to launch colour-coded contact tracing apps that citizens had to show to enter public buildings and ride on public transport ( McGregor, 2021 ).…”

A Comparative Study on the Adoption of Cashless Payment: Malaysia and China

“…Nevertheless, the prevalence of mobile phone payments has significantly supplanted conventional payment methods, encompassing both cash and cashless transactions. Remarkably, mobile phone transactions have surpassed an astonishing sum of USD 8.6 trillion, as reported by Kennedyd et al in 2020.…”