This shift is part of China's broader push to modernize its financial infrastructure, creating a more inclusive and accessible economic environment. As visa policies become more flexible and payment systems more user-friendly, foreign visitors are finding it easier to adapt to China's cashless society.
China is one of the top countries for using cashless payment systems, but penetration is not 100 percent. Elderly Chinese still often prefer to pay with cash and some struggle with using mobile payments.
China is moving toward a cashless society
According to the article's forecast, around 60 percent of China's 1.3 billion population will have made a purchase via mobile payment by 2023. As the trend continues, China may soon become a cashless economy, where digital payment methods totally replace cash.
Sweden, the first European country to introduce banknotes in 1661, became the world's first cashless society on 24 March 2023. Finland and the UK are top–ranked to become cashless societies as well. Poland, on the other hand, has scrapped plans to limit cash payments to ensure freedom of choice.
The US is moving toward cashless payments, with a substantial increase in the use of mobile wallet apps and contactless cards. A report from the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco found that payments made using cash accounted for just 18% of all US payments in 2022.
Sweden. Although it was the first country to issue banknotes, Sweden is the most cashless society in the world today, with just 32 ATMs in operation per 100,000 people, and with more than 98% of its citizens own a debit/credit card.
While digital wallets have become the preferred method, traditional payment options like cash and cards are still usable in some situations. It's important to note that cash is becoming less common, and using foreign cards can incur high fees.
The Drawbacks of a Cashless Society
Without cash, we would be forced to leave a record of everything we buy. While this may not bother some, there are many who worry that governments and/or corporations could use our purchasing histories as a way to track us, monitor us, and even intimidate us.
Sudan and Bir Tawil
And as for Bir Tawil – of course they don't have any ATMs, but there are some money receiving facilities in Bir Tawil town as we christened it.
Only 13 per cent report having gone completely cashless. Despite more than half of Canadians (55 per cent) who say they have no desire to go cashless, 49 per cent think it is likely that Canadian stores will go completely cashless in the next 10 years compared to 31 per cent who think it is unlikely.
The downsides of going cashless include less privacy, greater exposure to hacking, technological dependency, magnifying economic inequality, and more. Credit and debit cards, electronic payment apps, mobile payment services, and virtual currencies in use today could pave the way to a fully cashless society.
Japan, perhaps, is on a steady path towards a more cashless society. PayPay, one of the most common QR code payment services in Japan, reported surpassing 50 million users in 2022, indicating the increasing adoption of digital payment solutions among Japanese consumers.
According to the FIS Worldpay Global Payments Report, Australia is projected to be 98 per cent cashless by 2024, and cash payments are expected to decline to just 2.1 per cent of in-store purchases. Yet, despite these realities, we're still lagging.
Bank cards issued in your home country/region can be accepted if logos of UnionPay, Visa, Mastercard and other payment organizations are displayed at the checkout counter (see picture below). If not, please ask the cashier whether your bank card can be accepted.
As the essence of industrialized society, money is the core instrument of business and the measure of value (Smith, 1776/1937). In a collectivistic culture such as China's, people are very likely to be affected by others; thus, there is a tendency to conform to uniform values and chase common goals (Sun et al., 2014b).
A 2024 survey by CardRates.com tell us that while 70% of people believe we're moving in a cashless direction, 77% think the U.S. shouldn't go fully cashless because it could be a disadvantage to those who are underbanked or unbanked.
Just: The Bible says absolutely nothing about predicting a cashless society, as some people claim. And in fact, if it did, the closest passage to anything that you could call a “cashless society” is not from the Book of Revelation, but it's from Isaiah, Chapter 55.
Just fill in our quick form. Norways is the most cashless country, with only around 2% of payments being made by cash, and 100% of the population having a bank account.
The People's Bank of China has fined businesses—including KFC and state-owned entities—for refusing to accept cash following a recent drive to support payment choice and encourage tourism and foreign investment.
China's cashless evolution is a remarkable story, as the country transitioned in less than two decades from a cash-first society to one with an 86% mobile payments penetration rate.
Cash. In major cities like Beijing, Xi'an, and Shanghai, you'll find that cash is accepted, and most hotels, restaurants, and the shopping places/factories included in your travel itinerary also accept cash.
To be clear, most governments, at least privately, now consider cashless economies a clear policy imperative and standard. Cashless economies have much higher rates of income tax compliance, much lower rates of financial crime and fraud, and much lower banking system costs related to processing of cash.
Why Eliminate Cash? Cash can be used in criminal activities such as money laundering and tax evasion because it is difficult to trace. Digital transactions or electronic money create an audit trail for law enforcement and financial institutions and can aid governments in economic policymaking.