SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Chinas 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 Groups Alipay or Tencent Holdingss 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 Peoples 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 Peoples 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.