11–20 of 306 posts
I go to China often but it's been two years now. I don't look forward to the next visit for this very reason—I'll need this to pay for any and everything. I'm not going back.
Cash still works exactly the way it always has, (almost) nobody is going to turn down your business because you don't pay by an app.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Cash still works exactly the way it always has, (almost) nobody is going to turn down your business because you don't pay by an app.
Besides payments, WeChat is inextricably tied to everything you do in China from chatting with your friends to buying a movie ticket to visa renewals. I've spent over 400 nights in Chinese cities and I depend on WeChat like I depend on water. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WeChat#Features
A digitized version of Nazi Germany with mass censorship capabilities really is terrifying.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Besides payments, WeChat is inextricably tied to everything you do in China from chatting with your friends to buying a movie ticket to visa renewals. I've spent over 400 nights in Chinese cities and I depend on WeChat like I depend on water. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WeChat#Features
And how long, if not already - likely once their people are acclimatized to the idea of 'social rating' system - before they start subtly or aggressively warning people, swaying their behaviour, of potential for their rating to go down if associating with X who isn't using apps. A digitized version of Nazi Germany with mass censorship capabilities really is terrifying.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Cash still works exactly the way it always has, (almost) nobody is going to turn down your business because you don't pay by an app.
There are shops in the big cities that are starting to refuse cash now (apparently, this is not illegal in China) and only accept the two big payment apps.
I go to China often but it's been two years now. I don't look forward to the next visit for this very reason—I'll need this to pay for any and everything. I'm not going back.
Cash still works exactly the way it always has, (almost) nobody is going to turn down your business because you don't pay by an app.
It's only going to get worse.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Cash still works exactly the way it always has, (almost) nobody is going to turn down your business because you don't pay by an app.
Naturally, going onwards, places and things that one cannot buy and/or go without an e-wallet will gradually increase, right?
So far the "social credit" on seems to be mostly based on how much you buy and it only seems to give you discounts to massively overpriced products (similar to a credit card reward system).
You don't really download apps in Wechat but rather add a link more like a Facebook App (JavaScript & HTML).
Chinese people tend to like one app that does everything. Most of the services talked about in the article as separate services that you can open in WeChat but you can also open most of them in AliPay or Taobao or access them directly on their own websites. This is what Facebook tried to do but failed...
What I find fascinating is that a lot of older people that use WeChat in China are illiterate apart from numbers. They do everything by remembering the pictures and other people help them to set up their account. That is part of the reason why they want a single app that does everything. You don't need to read since you can just send messages, look at pictures and iconography.
Also, everyone in China still accepts cash but you generally need correct change.
If you have any questions feel free to ask. I just found out my sesame-credit score is 622 (not that it does anything...)
Earlier quoted context omitted.
There are shops in the big cities that are starting to refuse cash now (apparently, this is not illegal in China) and only accept the two big payment apps.
There are loads of coffee shops and cafes in the UK that don't take cash any more.
Is it too much effort to just make your own coffee in your own apartment? Does that now also have to be delivered to you? The amount of waste involved in this just boggles my mind.
The iPhone does, WeChat doesn't.