South China Morning PostAn argument between staff at a cashless supermarket in northern China and an elderly man who did not know how to use his smartphone to buy a bunch of grapes has revived calls for help for those left behind in the digital economy.
The 67-year-old man, identified only by his surname Xie, tried to use cash to buy the fruit at a supermarket in Jixi, Heilongjiang province, on Sunday, video news site Pear Video reported.
Checkout workers rejected the money and insisted that he use his phone to pay via either WeChat Pay or Alipay, prompting the argument, according to the video.
Alipay is owned by Alibaba, which owns the South China Morning Post.
Ill leave if you dont take the cash, Xie said in the clip.
Well, leave if you can, the cashier replied.
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Xie took the grapes and approached the door but was stopped by security guards.
I know its not right to leave without paying, Xie said. But I have real yuan in my hands. Its not fake money. Why are you humiliating this old man for not knowing how to use WeChat?
A security guard later helped Xie process the payment with cash, the report said.
I do not know how on the yuan banknote in China, however, on the banknotes in my country (Ukraine) it is indicated that all institutions and organizations of the country are obliged to accept these banknotes for payment on the territory of the state. If I refuse to accept the bills of my state in a retail outlet of any form of ownership, these persons who allowed it and their leaders should be held accountable. So it should be in any normal state.
A similar incident that occurred in China can occur in any state if citizens are forced to switch to the use of cryptocurrency or even non-cash forms of cash payments. This coercion should not be, otherwise there will be a rejection of non-cash payments by citizens.