Cash may not be king in China anymore, but reject it at your peril

Central bank takes steps to protect those on wrong side of digital divide

20210125NY Bank note china

A customer pays a vendor cash at a market in Beijing. An increasing number of companies, small traders, public entities and financial institutions rejecting cash as a means of payment and forcing customers to use online payments.  © Reuters

GUO YINGZHE and HU YUE, Caixin

Last November, a video of an elderly woman being told that she couldn't pay her medical insurance in cash went viral in China, triggering a debate about mobile payments and the marginalization of older people fueled by the digital divide.

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