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China: A Digital Payments Revolution

cgap.org · 2,608 words · saved by 2 readers

Chinese giants Alibaba and Tencent’s use of data to transform financial services and retail shopping holds clear lessons for providers in less advanced markets.

Chinese giants Alibaba and Tencent pioneered digital merchant payments and have driven the shift away from cash in the Chinese economy, where they now account for 90 percent of the $17 trillion mobile payments market. The companies see digital payments not as a goal in itself but as an entry point to a vast ecosystem of both offline and online goods and services—and they are using the data generated to transform financial services as well as the physical retail industry. This rapid shift was enabled by the country’s widespread bank account and smartphone ownership, but nevertheless holds…

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