"That's where Lagarde learned WeChat Pay." On the fourth floor of Beijing's Hongqiao Market, Bai Rufang, the founder and chairman of Beijing Fanghua Jewelry, pointed to the photos on the wall and introduced them to the Financial Times reporter one by one. In May 2017, Christine Lagarde, then Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, came to China to participate in the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation. ”
Another 7 years have passed. At present, mobile payment has become a beautiful business card of the mainland, and at the same time, diversified and inclusive payment services, including cash, credit cards, digital yuan, etc., are also being optimized.
Especially in 2024, optimizing payment services is becoming the "highlight" of financial institutions. Since March 7, when the General Office of the State Council issued the "Opinions on Further Optimizing Payment Services and Improving Payment Convenience" (hereinafter referred to as the "Opinions"), all localities have been taking active actions. "As the capital, Beijing should play a leading role in optimizing payment services and improving payment convenience, and the work must be practical, the responsibility must be in place, and work actual results." Jin Wei, member of the Standing Committee of the Beijing Municipal Party Committee and vice mayor, emphasized that optimizing services for Beijing "should be a demonstration, not a bonsai".
It has been nearly two months since the release of the Opinions.
What exactly has Beijing done?
What are the current results?
The Financial Times reporter visited many places in Beijing,
What is the experience of paying for foreigners?
A small POS machine starts a global business
Over the years, the Hongqiao Market, located near the Temple of Heaven, has been a favorite check-in and consumption place for foreign guests, and has received more than 10,000 dignitaries and envoys from nearly 100 countries, including former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. From mobile phone cases that cost dozens of yuan, power banks that cost 100 yuan, to expensive jewelry, are all popular among foreign tourists.
The Financial Times reporter saw at the scene that some foreign tourists and Chen Haimin, the owner of a merchant specializing in electronic products, "bargained". "People love the variety of phone cases we have in our store." Chen Haimin showed reporters the "hot" products in the store. "The Hongqiao market is special, 70% of the passenger flow comes from abroad, and 30% are our locals." According to him, 40% of foreign tourists choose to use wild cards, and most of the rest use cash.
In the jewelry store upstairs, Bai Rufang shared her "business experience". As a 35-year-old store that has grown up with the Red Bridge Market, it has successively received politicians such as former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, many US secretaries of state, and the wives of Russian presidents. "Freshwater pearls are very Chinese characteristics, and our products are well received by everyone." She told reporters that many foreign guests will come to the store to buy.
Over the decades, Bai Rufang has witnessed the development of the Hongqiao Market and the changes in the payment methods of foreign tourists. "After all, buying our jewelry products is still based on large payments. More than a decade ago, foreigners held large amounts of cash, but nowadays, most of them are swiping cards, and the most common cards are Visa, MasterCard and American Express. ”
"Our POS machine here was swiped very early. Previously, some foreign guests would encounter a card with a payment limit, and they would make a phone call to their card organization and quickly lift the limit. Recently, Hongqiao Market has upgraded our POS machine, and there are more types of foreign cards that can be accepted. Bai Rufang said.
In fact, for many foreign tourists, especially short-term tourists in China, "swiping card" is still the most convenient and habitual option. In order to better serve customers, recently, the market has conducted a round of comprehensive combing of the support of all merchants' POS machines. For those that cannot be used and have expired, assist the merchant to replace and upgrade. At present, there are more than 200 merchant POS machines that support foreign card acceptance.
"There is a certain amount of liquidity in the market, and some merchants may not have the conditions for independent installation of POS machines because of the fact that the legal person is not in the local area, and we coordinate with UnionPay Beijing Branch to sign Lakala centralized cashier POS machine consumption function with merchants who have not opened overseas payment functions." Wang Liyan, deputy general manager of Hongqiao Market, explained in an interview with a reporter from the Financial Times.
Looking at Beijing, in order to facilitate the payment of foreign visitors to China, related services are also being promoted. According to Zhou Junming, member of the Party Committee and vice president of the Beijing branch of the People's Bank of China, in accordance with the principle of "seeking truth from facts and fully necessary", based on the eight scenarios of "food, housing, transportation, travel, shopping, entertainment, medicine and learning", the first batch of key merchants was determined to be about 11,000 households. In terms of bank card acceptance, we will make every effort to promote key merchants to add or upgrade foreign card POS machines. "The coverage rate of major wild cards such as Visa and Mastercard in the list of the first batch of key merchants exceeded 80%, achieving rapid improvement in the short term." He introduced.
"A game of chess" is promoted together
Weave a diversified payment service network
Of course, in addition to swiping cards, many foreign visitors to China will also choose other methods such as cash payment. In the Hongqiao market, the reporter saw a sign posted on the counter showing that it accepts RMB cash, UnionPay cards, Visa and other international bank cards, as well as digital yuan, UnionPay, Alipay, WeChat payment and other methods.
"The front desk and restaurant of the hotel are all equipped with smart POS machines, which support a variety of foreign card payments such as Visa and MasterCard." Ran Boli, general manager of Shangri-La Hotel, Beijing, said that about one-third to forty percent of customers currently pay by card, and 40 to 45 percent use mobile payment.
However, although the proportion of customers who pay in cash is decreasing, "cash protection" is still a necessary option for many shopping malls and hotels. At the Shangri-La Hotel, the reporter saw a cashier "counting money" on the spot. "Some of the guests who have a wedding here still use cash." "They receive a lot of cash, and they pay directly in cash, which is more straightforward and convenient. In addition, there are a number of events including car shows, where people from dozens of different countries will be in and around the hotel, and they will also use cash. ”
In the world of mobility, "cash" is more common. A reporter from the Financial Times learned from Ren Tiejun, chairman of the labor union of Beijing Yinjian Taxi Management Co., Ltd., that foreign visitors to China and the elderly still pay in cash when taking taxis. "We ask every driver to have enough change and ask passengers how to pay." He revealed that according to the company's sample survey, the company's driver's change reserve rate is basically 100%, and about 1 out of every 10 orders is paid in cash. "Now every week, there are banks in the company to provide door-to-door exchange of coin purse services, fully protect everyone's needs." He said.
The so-called "coin purse" is a product launched to solve the problem of "difficulty in finding change" that existed before. "ICBC Beijing Branch has started the design and production of 'coin purse' since February 29, and has completed the design of 'coin purse' of 3 materials and 5 specifications so far." Yao Lan, head of the cash operation section of the operation management department of the Beijing branch of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, said that the bank requires each branch to reserve no less than 20 "coin purses", including 100 yuan, 200 yuan, 300 yuan, 500 yuan four standard specifications, but also support customers to make appointments to customize "coin purses".
"At present, the Beijing branch of the People's Bank of China has organized more than 3,800 bank outlets under its jurisdiction to provide 100% of coin purses, and opened exchange service points at the airport's 'Taxi Workers' Home'. As of April 21, 235,000 standardized and diversified coin purses had been released, an increase of 182,000 from the end of February, and a special action to distribute coin purses to taxi drivers was launched. Zhou Junming introduced.
"Optimizing payment services is a systematic project, which needs to adhere to the system concept and 'play a game of chess' in the whole city." Zhou Junming said that on March 25, the "Beijing Implementation Plan for Further Optimizing Payment Services and Improving Payment Convenience" (hereinafter referred to as the "Implementation Plan") was officially issued, clarifying the work objectives, key tasks and safeguard measures, and determining the work objectives at the end of April, the end of June and the end of the year. In the next step, we will continue to resolutely implement the decisions and arrangements of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, vigorously promote the high-quality implementation of the tasks of the Beijing Municipal Implementation Plan, and ensure that the diverse payment service needs of the elderly, foreign visitors to Beijing and other groups are better met.
Source: Financial Times Client Reporter: Ma Meiruo Editor: Yang Jingyi E-mail: [email protected]