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A leading payments industry news source for more than 17 years. Glenbrook curates the news and keeps you abreast of the important daily headlines in payments.
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August 14, 2020
On the web
China to Expand Testing of a Digital Currency
Wall Street Journal (paywall)
“China’s Commerce Ministry said it would expand a pilot program for its digital currency to include a number of large cities, advancing a pioneering initiative by a major central bank to launch an electronic payment system. The digital currency pilot program will cover much of China’s most prosperous regions, the Commerce Ministry said Friday: the capital Beijing and nearby Tianjin and Hebei province in the north; the Yangtze River Delta to the south; and, along China’s wealthy southern coast, Guangdong province and the neighboring cities of Hong Kong and Macau.”
July 31, 2020
On the web
China’s Central Bank Urges Antitrust Probe Into Alipay, WeChat Pay
Reuters
“China’s top antitrust agency is looking at whether to launch a probe into Alipay and WeChat Pay, prompted by the central bank which argues the digital payment giants have used their dominant positions to quash competition, sources with knowledge of the matter said.”
July 8, 2020
On the web
China to Test Sovereign Digital Currency on Ride Hailing Giant Didi
Reuters
“China’s central bank is partnering up with Didi Chuxing to test the use of its digital currency, which could make China’s dominant ride hailing platform one of the world’s first’s corporate users of a government-created virtual currency. The digital currency research unit of People’s Bank of China (PBOC) is working with Didi to apply digital currency electronic payment, or DCEP, on the ride hailing app, Didi said in a statement on Wednesday.”
June 17, 2020
On the wires
WeChat Pay to Support American Express Credit Card
“China’s tech giant Tencent announced on Tuesday that its WeChat Pay will support American Express RMB credit cards, coming soon. China’s central bank on Saturday announced that it had approved an application by American Express’ Chinese venture to conduct bank card clearing operations in the country.”
June 15, 2020
Top Post
American Express Receives Clearance to Begin Processing Local Transactions in Mainland China
“American Express announced today that its joint-venture in mainland China, Express (Hangzhou) Technology Services Company Limited (“Express Company”), has received approval from the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) for a network clearing license. With this, American Express becomes the first foreign payments network to be licensed to clear RMB transactions in mainland China. The company expects to begin processing transactions later this year.”
April 20, 2020
On the web
China Rolls Out Pilot Test of Digital Currency
Wall Street Journal (pay wall)
“China’s central bank has introduced a homegrown digital currency across four cities as part of a pilot program, marking a milestone on the path toward the first electronic payment system by a major central bank. Internal tests of the digital currency are being conducted in four large cities around China—Shenzhen, Suzhou, Chengdu and Xiong’an, a satellite city of Beijing—to improve the currency’s functionality, the digital currency research institute under the People’s Bank of China confirmed Monday, in response to a request for comment. Chinese domestic and state-run media outlets reported on the trials over the weekend. The trials followed years of research by the central bank dating back to 2014. The new currency, which doesn’t have an official name but is known by its internal shorthand “DC/EP,” or “digital currency/electronic payment,” will share some features with cryptocurrencies including bitcoin and Facebook Inc.’s Libra, PBOC officials have said. While it won’t boast the anonymity that bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies tout, China’s central bankers have vowed to protect users’ privacy.”
April 10, 2020
On the web
Chinese commuters can now use Apple Pay Express Transit nationwide with China T-Union cards
9to5Mac
“In China, Express Transit was already available in Beijing and Shanghai with integration with local transit cards. Now, a new partnership means Apple and China T-Union can cover a huge part of the region with Express Transit integration. China T-Union cards are accepted in 275 Chinese cities. Apple Pay-based travel is even more useful in current times as people try to reduce their amount of contact with public terminals and other people. We are still waiting for the promised Express Transit support to reach Octopus cards for Hong Kong travellers, and the Chicago transit system here in the United States.”
February 18, 2020
On the web
China Quarantines Cash to Sanitize Old Bank Notes From Virus
Bloomberg
“The government cut off the transfer and allocation of old bank notes across provinces, and between cities most affected by the deadly outbreak, according to Fan Yifei, People’s Bank of China’s deputy governor. The central bank also ramped up measures to sanitize old money to reduce contagion risks and added 600 billion yuan ($85.9 billion) of new cash for Hubei, the epicenter of the coronavirus, he said.”
December 9, 2019
On the web
China’s Central Bank Likely to Pilot Digital Currency in Cities of Shenzhen and Suzhou: Report – CoinDesk
CoinDesk
“The tests are likely to include the participation of state-owned partners. These comprise the “Big Four” commercial banks – the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Bank of China, China Construction Bank and the Agricultural Bank of China – and three telcos, China Telecom, China Mobile and China Unicom. The pilots will see the digital currency, dubbed digital currency electronic payment (DCEP), applied in real-world scenarios such as transportation, education and healthcare, Caijing says. Partner banks will be able to design their own trials scenarios for DCEP.”
November 26, 2019
On the web
China mobile payments maintain rapid growth in Q3
XinhuaNet
“China’s mobile payments continued fast growth in the third quarter of 2019, showed data from the central bank. Banks in the country processed 27.27 billion mobile payment transactions in the period, up 61.05 percent year on year, said the People’s Bank of China in a report. Value of these transactions increased by 31.52 percent from the same period of last year to 86.11 trillion yuan (about 12.2 trillion U.S. dollars). Meanwhile, online payment transactions by the non-banking institutions were valued at 63.99 trillion yuan in Q3, up 23.04 percent year on year.”
November 21, 2019
On the web
China Central Bank to Set Standards for 17 Fintech Categories, Including Blockchain – CoinDesk
CoinDesk
“Speaking at a meeting of the National Technical Committee, PBoC vice president Yifei Fan said the bank aims to better regulate new technologies applied across the financial industry, according to a report from state media Xinhua News Agency. Fan said blockchain is among 17 categories of financial technologies, including cloud services and artificial intelligence, to be regulated under the new standards.”
November 11, 2019
November 5, 2019
On the web
Travelers to China Can Finally Experience Its Cashless Economy Like a Local
Quartz
“Short-term visitors to mainland China can download a version of the Alipay app to pay for things using QR codes, according to a statement today from parent company Ant Financial. Travelers are able to use Alipay’s “Tour Pass” program, which allows them to use a prepaid card service from the Bank of Shanghai. Visitors can top up the card in Chinese yuan via with their usual credit or debit card.”
July 29, 2019
On the web
Flutterwave and Alipay Partner on Payments Between Africa and China
TechCrunch
“San Francisco and Lagos-based fintech startup Flutterwave has partnered with Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba to offer digital payments between Alipay and African merchants. Flutterwave is a Nigerian-founded B2B payments service (primarily) for companies in Africa to pay other companies on the continent and abroad… “This means that all our merchants can accept or install Alipay as a payment type to accept payments from its billion users,” Flutterwave CEO Olugbenga Agboola — aka GB — told TechCrunch.”
June 5, 2019
On the web
Starbucks Rewards Chinese Customers With Mobile Order & Pay Service
NFC World
“Coffee giant Starbucks has begun rolling out its Starbucks Now mobile-based, pre-order and pay service to 300 stores in Beijing and Shanghai . The company plans to introduce Starbucks Now across China this year as it seeks to build a closer relationship with its customers in the country. The Mobile Order & Pay service is available to customers who are members of the Starbucks Rewards loyalty programme, via the Starbucks China mobile app.”
April 23, 2019
On the web
Tencent Joins Soros and Cohen With Stake in Agentina’s Uala
Bloomberg
“Chinese Internet giant Tencent Holdings Ltd . is taking a stake in Argentina’s mobile payments app Uala, adding to previous investments by Goldman Sachs and billionaires George Soros and Steve Cohen. The equity investment will be used to continue developing the fintech company in South America’s second-largest economy, according to founder and CEO Pierpaolo Barbieri. The venture is one of Tencent’s few in Latin America, after it announced a $90 million investment in Brazil’s Nubank last October. Uala has issued more than 500,000 prepaid cards from October 2017 to December 2018, as part of a bet on long-term growth in a country in which less than half the population has a bank account. The company is launching an app redesign Wednesday and looks to begin lending through its mobile app this year.”
April 8, 2019
On the web
China’s March to Be the World’s First Cashless Society: China Daily Contributor
The Straits Times
“China, the nation that introduced the world to banknotes, is now setting the pace in the competition to become the first cashless society. Already by 2017, more than three-quarters of Chinese people were using digital payments in preference to cash, and the number was rising fast. Now, the central bank and other financial authorities have announced they want to spread the benefits of going cashless to the four out of 10 people in China who still live in rural areas.”
April 4, 2019
On the web
Users of China UnionPay’s Mobile Payment App Hit 150 Million
SHINE
“User can make payments, buy wealth management products and make debit card balance inquires on the app Cloud Quick Pass, the Shanghai-based company said. The platform supports online applications for more than 80 types of credit cards from 21 banks, and cardholders of over 230 lenders can make mobile payments by scanning the association’s quick response (QR) code. China UnionPay also said it is gradually expanding Cloud Quick Pass use for public transportation, convenience store sales and medical treatment among other scenarios.”
(Editors note: Overall, 580M people made at least one mobile payment in China in 2018)
March 18, 2019
On the web
You Will Soon Be Able to Pay Your Subway Fare With Your Face in China
South China Morning Post
“In Shenzhen, the local subway operator is testing various advanced technologies backed by the ultra-fast 5G network, including facial-recognition ticketing. At the Futian station, instead of presenting a ticket or scanning a QR bar code on their smartphones, commuters can scan their faces on a tablet-sized screen mounted on the entrance gate and have the fare automatically deducted from their linked accounts. Currently in a trial mode, the facial-recognition ticketing service could in future help improve the efficiency of handling the up to 5 million rides per day on the city’s subway network. Shenzhen Metro did not elaborate when it will roll out the facial payment service.”
February 22, 2019
On the web
China Wants Its Rural Villages to Go Cashless by 2020
TechCrunch
“Residents of even the tiniest far-flung villages in China may soon be able to pay on their phones to run daily errands as Beijing announced this month that it aims to make mobile payments ubiquitous in rural areas by the end of 2020. The plan arrived in a set of guidelines (document link in Chinese) jointly published by five of China’s top regulating bodies, including the central bank, the Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission, the Securities Regulatory Commission, the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, in a move to make online financial services more accessible to rural residents.”
January 31, 2019
On the wires
RiverPay Integrates UnionPay QR Code Payment to Offer Full Portfolio of Chinese Leading Mobile Payment Options
“RiverPay Inc., an integrated payments and marketing platform to connect Chinese consumers with overseas merchants and the authorized payment service provider of AliPay and WeChat Pay, today announced the strategic partnership with UnionPay International in North America, which enables RiverPay to add UnionPay QR code payment to its existing payment portfolio. From the partnership, RiverPay is now able to offer all major mobile payment options favored by Chinese consumers to all its merchants for them to better seize the huge purchase potential of outbound Chinese consumer market.”
January 30, 2019
On the web
2018 TRENDS FOR MOBILE PAYMENT IN CHINESE OUTBOUND TOURISM
Nielsen
“Based on a survey of 2,800-plus outbound Chinese tourists[1], this whitepaper represents the latest trends and consumption habits of these travelers in overseas markets. It covers a variety of perspectives including the number of foreign countries visited, tourists’ consumption amounts and habits in overseas destinations, and their evolving demands. This survey also provides an alternative lens for observing China’s consumer and tourism market.”
January 25, 2019
On the web
U.S. set to lose its position as world’s biggest retail market |Chain Store Age
Chain Store Age
“China’s economy may be slowing, but it is on track to overtake the United States and become the world’s top retail market this year. The latest forecast by eMarketer predicts that retail sales in China will increase 7.5% to $5.636 trillion in 2019. That’s approximately $100 billion more than the United States, where retail sales are expected to grow 3.3% to $5.529 trillion. And while growth rates are slowing for both countries, China’s growth rate will exceed that of the United States through 2022. By 2022, total retail sales in China are expected to hit $6.757 trillion, while U.S. total retail sales will reach $6.030 trillion.”
January 22, 2019
On the web
Beijing’s blockade of U.S. credit card companies may finally end — now that Chinese companies dominate
Washington Post
“Over the years that China has stymied Western companies, domestic rivals such as China UnionPay, Alipay and WeChat Pay have gobbled up the market for electronic payments and established strong ties with consumers.State-controlled UnionPay now operates the largest card network in the world, with 7 billion credit, debit and prepaid cards in circulation, versus 5.6 billion for Visa and MasterCard combined, according to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.”
December 10, 2018
On the web
In the land where mobile payments are king, China says rejecting physical cash is illegal
South China Morning Post
“China’s central bank on Monday warned that rejecting cash as a form of payment was illegal, saying that such practices could eventually cause the loss of confidence in physical money and was unfair to those not accustomed to electronic payments.”
China To 600 Retailers: We Are Not A Mobile Payments-Only Society
Payments Week
“It’s kind of odd how often this has happened, but it seems that any time a government has pushed for a cashless society, it’s drawn back at the brink. The Indian government demonetized most—but not all—of its currency. Sweden’s push to go cashless prompted regrets of its own. And now China, where mobile payment were on track to become king, recently got personally involved, as the government ordered over 600 merchants that they must accept cash.”
November 9, 2018
Top Post
China Gives American Express First Shot At Its Huge Payments Market
CNN
October 26, 2018
On the wires
UnionPay maintains its position as the world’s largest card scheme
“Growth in the Chinese card market has been strong for several years and the trend continued in 2017 which saw the number of cards in issue rise by 9%. The vast majority of the country’s cards are UnionPay-branded, and in 2017 the scheme accounted for 44% of the world’s payment cards, increasing its share by one percentage point compared to the previous year. “
October 9, 2018
On the web
HOW CASHLESS MAINLAND CHINA MADE HONG KONG, SINGAPORE LOOK BACKWARD
South China Morning Post
“Like Hong Kong with its Octopus card, Singapore was an early adopter of e-payment systems, starting with the introduction of the General Interbank Recurring Order (GIRO) in 1985, which allowed people to make monthly payments to a billing organisation directly from their bank accounts. But since those early days both cities have found themselves leapfrogged in the race to the cashless society by mainland China’s burgeoning mobile payment scene.”
October 8, 2018
On the web
How WeChat faded into the silence in India
“But like a roller coaster in an adventure park, the WeChat trajectory turned direction and began to nosedive fast. The number of uninstalls increased. There was no stickiness to the app. Soon, there were news reports that suggested that the app could be banned by the government. That was the beginning of the end for WeChat in India.”
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