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Digital Yuan needs WeChat and Alipay to Succeed

August 19, 2023 by Rich Turrin

Digital Yuan needs WeChat and Alipay to Succeed

Thank you to Timmy Shen from Forkast.news! 

Full article: here

Some great quotes

“It is very clear that the digital yuan must be usable on both WeChat Pay and Alipay,” Richard Turrin, a Shanghai-based fintech consultant, told Forkast. “WeChat Pay is the dominant social network, so if you want to be able to send money to people, you have to be on WeChat. Alipay is probably marginally less important than WeChat, but because of its use in e-commerce, it is also an important place to be able to use the digital yuan.”

The digital yuan does not seek to displace WeChat Pay or Alipay, Turrin said, adding: “What it does strive to do is to give people a third payment option.”

Still, Turrin said the best way for the central bank to increase digital yuan adoption is to “ensure that the banks roll out to their commercial or retail customers the ability to accept digital yuan on their point of sale systems.” 

“That hasn’t happened yet and that’s the primary reason why I don’t feel the PBOC is in any particular rush or feels any great pressure to push digital yuan use,” Turrin added.

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Category: CBDC, China, Fintech
Rich Turrin

About Rich Turrin

Rich Turrin is the international best-selling author of “Cashless – China’s Digital Currency Revolution” and “Innovation Lab Excellence.” He is an Onalytica Top 100 Fintech Influencer and an award-winning executive previously heading fintech teams at IBM following a twenty-year career in investment banking. Rich is a leading media commentator and advisor on China’s digital currency and tech scene. Living in Shanghai for more than a decade, Rich experienced China going cashless first-hand.

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