07-19-2021, 11:16 AM
- Mobile pay has grown rapidly in the last several years to become the dominant form of payment in China.
- However, the two primary mobile pay apps — operated by Tencent and Alibaba, respectively — typically require a connection with a domestic bank account, preventing foreigner travelers from using the apps easily.
- “Foreign residents temporarily traveling in China can open an e-CNY wallet to meet daily payment needs without opening a domestic bank account,” the People’s Bank of China said in a paper released Friday.
![[Image: 106911896-1626422044357-gettyimages-1231...=740&h=416]](https://image.cnbcfm.com/api/v1/image/106911896-1626422044357-gettyimages-1231594799-CHINA_SHANGHAI_E-CNY.jpeg?v=1626422127&w=740&h=416)
BEIJING — Foreign travelers to China will be able to use the government-developed digital yuan without a local bank account, the country’s central bank said in a paper published Friday.
Mobile pay has grown rapidly in the last several years to become the dominant form of payment in China. Merchants often prefer not to take cash, while credit cards never took off in China the same way they did in the U.S.
However, the two primary mobile pay apps — operated by Tencent and Alibaba, respectively — typically require a connection with a domestic bank account, preventing foreigner travelers from using the apps easily.
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