China says rejecting physical cash is illegal amid e-payments popularity

[tdrinker]

Yeah, that's the big problem.  They're not ready for this yet and shouldn't be forced to abandon cash.  I don't see the need to rush the adoption of a cashless society.  As I said, it's a good move by China.

We still have people using cheques and other outdated payment methods. Even the middle aged generations in many modern countries still rely heavily on cash, the older generation almost entirely. That's in countries with long established banking systems and easy access to internet etc. China in many parts is still largely underdeveloped, people don't have access to bank accounts and cash is their only option. It's only right that they are able to spend their money.

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[magneto]

It could be because of the oligopoly of the e-payments sector, with basically WeChat Pay and Alipay dominating the market.

As a result, the central bank may feel an increasing lack of control over the transactions that are happening within these platforms, which could be the reason why this statement was released in the first place. But of course, other reasons such as the lack of education for rural areas and elderlies to use the technologies that are crucial to cashless payments are also valid.

I do feel like that China eventually will move completely cashless, and will be one of the first countries to do so. But the central bank will definitely assert more control and regulation over time, potentially through their own blockchain based currency.

[andriarto]

Yeah, that's the big problem.  They're not ready for this yet and shouldn't be forced to abandon cash.  I don't see the need to rush the adoption of a cashless society.  As I said, it's a good move by China.

We still have people using cheques and other outdated payment methods. Even the middle aged generations in many modern countries still rely heavily on cash, the older generation almost entirely. That's in countries with long established banking systems and easy access to internet etc. China in many parts is still largely underdeveloped, people don't have access to bank accounts and cash is their only option. It's only right that they are able to spend their money.

althought the statement, but in fact there are still many who are dependent on cash, even though some people can move, but the older generation is indeed familiar with cash, and it is difficult to teach them about epayments.

[CryptoBry]

China appears to be adopting the inverse polar opposite of a cashless society.

I think that the conclusion is incorrect.
Any government may try to convince you to use cashless means of payment because it's cheaper and easier to track. But they have to support the original paper currency too, it may be even in the constitution.
The "cashless" society will not mean in the near future that all the payments will be done without physical cash. Even a 75% would be already a huge percentage. And I guess they may push to 90-95%. Try to see the reality behind the commercials

On another side, also abandoning completely the "cashless society" direction would not surprise me. The ways of Chinese government are quite strange in many aspects, we know that.

You said it right. Going cashless or electronic does not mean that paper or fiat money should be rejected because there will always  be segments of the population that will prefer things the old way. What about if one has no gadget or maybe has no card...should we then exclude that person in the workings of the economy? Of course not. When credit and debit cards were introduced decades ago, many were then concluding that soon after people will stop using the fiat money but look at the world now we are still using them while cards are also popular. Those can happily seat alongside each other so why choose to impose one over the other. We are in the global economy that is very diversified and complex so choices should be available to all to enjoy.

[Irvinn]

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - China’s central bank on Monday warned that rejecting cash as a form of payment was illegal, saying that such practices could eventually could cause the loss of confidence in physical money and was unfair to those not accustomed to electronic payments.

Its comments, made in a post on its official WeChat account, come as electronic payments via Alibaba Group’s Alipay or Tencent Holdings’s WeChat have become increasingly popular in China where they are accepted on platforms such as public transport and at retailers like coffee shops.

The ease of use has meant that some vendors, especially in major cities like Beijing and Shanghai, have stopped accepting physical cash.

“Electronic payments has given us a new way to pay, but it must not replace cash payments,” the People’s Bank of China said. “Over time, the practice can become second nature and people could lose confidence in cash.

It added that it was particularly unfair to the elderly and people who lived in underdeveloped parts of the country who would have difficulty in mastering the processes needed for electronic payment.

The central bank also pointed out that some local authorities were promoting their technology advancements with taglines like “cashless city”, but said that this should not mean that they no longer accepted money.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-payment/china-says-rejecting-physical-cash-is-illegal-amid-e-payments-popularity-idUSKBN1O902F

....

China appears to be adopting the inverse polar opposite of a cashless society.

This makes for an interesting contrast with other nations many of whom view a transition to cashless payment systems as being a natural progression.

If someone wanted to cite reasons behind china adopting the opposite of a cashless society, while many other nations of the world embraced the opposite abstract--how would they explain this? What would the main motive behind differences in policy be?

I fully agree with the opinion of the Central Bank of China. Electronic payments are a new form of financial relationship. however, it should not replace cash. All new forms of cashless payments, including cryptocurrency, should go in a society in parallel with the national money of the states and should complement each other. There are no absolutely perfect forms of financial calculations. Each form has its advantages and disadvantages. All of them must work in our society together so that everyone can choose the most suitable for themselves. It is correctly stated in the statement of the People’s Bank of China that the elderly and the population of poor areas cannot or even partially do not want to use electronic payments and this is their right, they should not be affected by their rights to use the traditional method of payment.
I think that all other states will express the same opinion if necessary.

[jcarlo]

China already take step ahead compare others country. China technology right now rising very fast and government give good facility. If china government regulating cryptocurrency and allowing cryptocurrency for payment, i am believe china will lead the world in crypto transaction

[tdrinker]

Yeah, that's the big problem.  They're not ready for this yet and shouldn't be forced to abandon cash.  I don't see the need to rush the adoption of a cashless society.  As I said, it's a good move by China.

We still have people using cheques and other outdated payment methods. Even the middle aged generations in many modern countries still rely heavily on cash, the older generation almost entirely. That's in countries with long established banking systems and easy access to internet etc. China in many parts is still largely underdeveloped, people don't have access to bank accounts and cash is their only option. It's only right that they are able to spend their money.

althought the statement, but in fact there are still many who are dependent on cash, even though some people can move, but the older generation is indeed familiar with cash, and it is difficult to teach them about epayments.

It's not even a case of it being difficult to teach them. More of a case of why should we force them to adapt to something new when cash is still a perfectly legitimate way of spending. Cash will naturally be eliminated over time as most see the benefits for epayments but there's little need to force change on to people in the last years of their lives when it's not necessary.

[Snaic]

Of course, cash must be used in every state along with other forms of cashless payments. Not all people can or want to use non-cash forms of money and their opinion should be respected. In addition, I think that in many cases, small transactions are much more convenient to make using cash than non-cash payments, which are associated with the availability of technical equipment and require dependence on many other factors.

[pixie85]

China already take step ahead compare others country. China technology right now rising very fast and government give good facility. If china government regulating cryptocurrency and allowing cryptocurrency for payment, i am believe china will lead the world in crypto transaction

They are still in the middle ages in some aspects. Capital punishment, public executions, denying people the right to send money abroad, just to name a few.
They are also one of the leading countries in pollution. Many buildings in China are falling apart and nobody cares, their work ethics is also lacking. I wouldn't put them on a pedestal here.

[olubams]

To even think someone would reject physical cash is something out of the ordinary which government should take a more tough stance on because until there is a law that stops it from being a legal tender, it still remains a currency that should be accepted by all in the whole country. People have been made to go through untold hardship since the beginning of the the extreme cashless policy period especially the senior citizens but with this proclamation, its expected that it would change.

[figmentofmyass]

For better or worse, a cashless world is coming.  Such a thing would have been unheard of in the 1800s, and boy how times have changed.

is it though? i've heard the fearmongering about sweden, but i don't see anything like that happening in the USA. cash economies are still really prevalent here. where i live, gas prices are lower if you're paying with cash vs card and most people i know still use cash (at least sometimes).

[Bonsaiav]

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - China’s central bank on Monday warned that rejecting cash as a form of payment was illegal, saying that such practices could eventually could cause the loss of confidence in physical money and was unfair to those not accustomed to electronic payments.

Its comments, made in a post on its official WeChat account, come as electronic payments via Alibaba Group’s Alipay or Tencent Holdings’s WeChat have become increasingly popular in China where they are accepted on platforms such as public transport and at retailers like coffee shops.

The ease of use has meant that some vendors, especially in major cities like Beijing and Shanghai, have stopped accepting physical cash.

“Electronic payments has given us a new way to pay, but it must not replace cash payments,” the People’s Bank of China said. “Over time, the practice can become second nature and people could lose confidence in cash.

It added that it was particularly unfair to the elderly and people who lived in underdeveloped parts of the country who would have difficulty in mastering the processes needed for electronic payment.

The central bank also pointed out that some local authorities were promoting their technology advancements with taglines like “cashless city”, but said that this should not mean that they no longer accepted money.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-payment/china-says-rejecting-physical-cash-is-illegal-amid-e-payments-popularity-idUSKBN1O902F

....

China appears to be adopting the inverse polar opposite of a cashless society.

This makes for an interesting contrast with other nations many of whom view a transition to cashless payment systems as being a natural progression.

If someone wanted to cite reasons behind china adopting the opposite of a cashless society, while many other nations of the world embraced the opposite abstract--how would they explain this? What would the main motive behind differences in policy be?

China is the first country to implement a cashless system, and we can say that it has succeeded well, no wonder if this triggers ideas and topics of discussion for most financial officials in each country. I think the Chinese government cannot put forward a cashless system because cash is real, it's the main product of every country including China which is arguably still very reliable for the economy of their country, in addition to technology, etc.

[timerland]

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - China’s central bank on Monday warned that rejecting cash as a form of payment was illegal, saying that such practices could eventually could cause the loss of confidence in physical money and was unfair to those not accustomed to electronic payments.

Its comments, made in a post on its official WeChat account, come as electronic payments via Alibaba Group’s Alipay or Tencent Holdings’s WeChat have become increasingly popular in China where they are accepted on platforms such as public transport and at retailers like coffee shops.

The ease of use has meant that some vendors, especially in major cities like Beijing and Shanghai, have stopped accepting physical cash.

“Electronic payments has given us a new way to pay, but it must not replace cash payments,” the People’s Bank of China said. “Over time, the practice can become second nature and people could lose confidence in cash.

It added that it was particularly unfair to the elderly and people who lived in underdeveloped parts of the country who would have difficulty in mastering the processes needed for electronic payment.

The central bank also pointed out that some local authorities were promoting their technology advancements with taglines like “cashless city”, but said that this should not mean that they no longer accepted money.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-payment/china-says-rejecting-physical-cash-is-illegal-amid-e-payments-popularity-idUSKBN1O902F

....

China appears to be adopting the inverse polar opposite of a cashless society.

This makes for an interesting contrast with other nations many of whom view a transition to cashless payment systems as being a natural progression.

If someone wanted to cite reasons behind china adopting the opposite of a cashless society, while many other nations of the world embraced the opposite abstract--how would they explain this? What would the main motive behind differences in policy be?

I wouldn't say that they are adopting a non-cashless society per se.

As far as anyone is concerned, cashless payments in China is extremely widespread and is only growing. It doesn't make sense to say that they are moving away from cashlessness while this kind of large scale digital economic activity is still happening.

All this is is probably just an indicator of exactly how much cashlessness has grown in China, to the point where the central bank needs to intervene in order to get people to accept cash. It doesn't mean that the cashless society aspect of China will necessarily diminish in the future, or that the central bank wants to revert back to cash at all. It's just trying to enforce the legality of paper based fiat, imho.

[tdrinker]

For better or worse, a cashless world is coming.  Such a thing would have been unheard of in the 1800s, and boy how times have changed.

is it though? i've heard the fearmongering about sweden, but i don't see anything like that happening in the USA. cash economies are still really prevalent here. where i live, gas prices are lower if you're paying with cash vs card and most people i know still use cash (at least sometimes).

Here's a little article I read just now when looking in to your opinion.

https://www.creditcards.com/credit-card-news/payment-method-statistics-1276.php

From this it would seem there's some truth in what you're saying, cash use is dwindling but it is still very very prevalent.

According to the 2016 Federal Reserve Payments Study, noncash payments increased at an annual rate of 5.3 percent (3.4 percent in value), between 2012 and 2015.

A 2016 Gallup poll also found that far fewer Americans are using cash than five years previously. Only 10 percent reported using cash for all their purchases, down from 19 percent in 2011

But still, only 12 percent say they never use cash, hardly changed from the 10 percent who said the same in 2011.

[Ozero]

This is a normal reaction of the state. which protects and will protect the use of its national paper money. Cash will always be in demand and will always go along with other types of means of payment. As long as states exist, until then there will be their cash paper money. In addition, the poorest strata of society and citizens with various health flaws will always support the circulation of cash.

[shield132]

Personally I agree, on this forum a lot of guys are excited with digital money, especially with bitcoin as another form of it. This doesn't mean it's good to fully move it and I think there are reasons. Imagine when we are fully depend on electro money, banks can easily close our accounts and leave us without money or whole world. On cash, that's not possible because we have cash in our pocket and our payment don't depend on 3rd party services, we do it directly in real life. On another hand if we want, in one year we will be fully moved on electro money but that doesn't worth, better if we leave everything like it is as for now with cash.

[Renaldi blackspadeteam]

I like this, the Chinese government may realize that paper money is troublesome, use E-payment because it is more practical and easy to use, I think cryptocurrency can be made a second alternative for payment.

[alyssa85]

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - China’s central bank on Monday warned that rejecting cash as a form of payment was illegal, saying that such practices could eventually could cause the loss of confidence in physical money and was unfair to those not accustomed to electronic payments.

Its comments, made in a post on its official WeChat account, come as electronic payments via Alibaba Group’s Alipay or Tencent Holdings’s WeChat have become increasingly popular in China where they are accepted on platforms such as public transport and at retailers like coffee shops.

The ease of use has meant that some vendors, especially in major cities like Beijing and Shanghai, have stopped accepting physical cash.

“Electronic payments has given us a new way to pay, but it must not replace cash payments,” the People’s Bank of China said. “Over time, the practice can become second nature and people could lose confidence in cash.

It added that it was particularly unfair to the elderly and people who lived in underdeveloped parts of the country who would have difficulty in mastering the processes needed for electronic payment.

The central bank also pointed out that some local authorities were promoting their technology advancements with taglines like “cashless city”, but said that this should not mean that they no longer accepted money.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-payment/china-says-rejecting-physical-cash-is-illegal-amid-e-payments-popularity-idUSKBN1O902F

....

This is genuinely batshit stuff, if they think cash and electronic payments are different. I guess they think cryptocurrency is not real either!

[sumangs]

I think the China doesn't trust e-payments for a specific reason and cryptocurrencies are also part of it. It is also said that "it must not replace cash payments" and it wonders me that there is still problems on e-payments but for a strong country it should be not a problem for them since I believe that they could resolve problems in that platform. If the problem are the elderly then make a way to make them understand it or have a service center near the stores that accepts e-payment since elderly people did a great part on the country through work and paying taxes so it is not bad to give them gratitude and yet we all going to be elderly, so just give them the pleasure or their good retirement by doing a simple help on e-payments.

[gabmen]

I like this, the Chinese government may realize that paper money is troublesome, use E-payment because it is more practical and easy to use, I think cryptocurrency can be made a second alternative for payment.

The chinese obviously are pushing for paper money dude. That's why they have a firm stance when it comes to cryptocurrencies probably becauae the givernment will have less control if it get's mass adoption. These guys still are about having the necks of their citizens in their hands.