A Chinese survey on 50 people - half of them used smartphone to make payments for "90 times a month"

Recently Nihon Keizai Shimbun Electronic Edition reported the following:

スマホ決済「1カ月90回以上」が半数　中国50人調査

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2019/9/15 23:00日本経済新聞　電子版

【上海=張勇祥】アリババ集団、騰訊控股（テンセント）が主導するスマートフォン決済は現金を完全に駆逐しつつある。用途が実店舗での支払いからスマホで受けられる様々なサービス、医療にまで広がり、利便性は現金をはるかにしのぐ。日本経済新聞社が8月に実施したアンケートでは、過去1カ月のスマホ決済の利用回数が「90回以上」とした回答は47%と半数近くを占めた。

「過去1カ月に現金を使ったのは一回きり。スマホの電池が切れていて」。河南省の大学講師、趙元昊（29）は愛車の給油に払った100元（約1500円）を除けば、支払いをすべてスマホ決済で済ませたという。趙さんのような例は、都市部ではむしろ自然だ。

日本経済新聞社がSNS（交流サイト）を通じて50人余りに調査したところ、過去1カ月の現金の利用回数が「0～5回以内」との回答は9割近くにのぼった。半面、スマホ決済が「月30回未満」と答えたのは3%弱にとどまった。回答者の大半が都市部に住み、30代までの若年層が8割を超すなど偏りはあるが、今後、スマホ決済が一段と定着する「のりしろ」が残っているとも考えられる。

アリババ、テンセントとも10億人規模の利用者を抱える。海外での利用者を含むなど単純には比べられないが、9億人ほどの中国の生産年齢人口をも上回る。子供や高齢者を除くと、大多数の中国人がスマホ決済を利用している。

中国でスマホ決済がここまで急速に普及した要因はいくつか考えられる。ほんの5～10年ほど前まではニセ札も一定量あり、現金の信頼性がいまひとつだったこと。スマホ決済を活用すれば、ネット通販で「払った、払わない」といった問題が劇的に減ること。簡便で、コストも既存の決済手段に比べ大幅に低いことも要因だ。

アリババが手がける支付宝（アリペイ）の場合、個人間の送金、決済に手数料はかからない。法人でも0.6%と、2～5%が一般的とされるクレジットカードを大きく下回る。現金は紛失や輸送にかかる費用がついて回る。コストと信頼性のバランスが既存の決済手段を上回ったからこそ、デファクトとしての地位を固めていった。

アンケートでは過去1カ月で最も大きいスマホ決済の使い道も尋ねた。車の頭金（6万元=約90万円）やネックレス（6万元）、家賃（1万元）、パソコン（9800元）など比較的高額な決済を挙げる声が続いた。現金で1万元を超す支払いは2例にとどまり、駐車料金や交通費など数十～数百元のケースが目立った。

日本では少額であれば交通系のICカード、高額はクレジットカードといったすみ分けもみられる。中国ではほぼ全ての決済をスマホが担う。クレジットカードの普及が遅れるなど、決済手段の未整備がリープフロッグ（カエル跳び）と呼ばれる急速な発展をもたらした。

スマホ決済は新たな雇用も生み出している。

「月収は6千元（約9万円）から7千元。郷里の安徽省にはこんな実入りのいい仕事はない」。康小輝さん（28）がアリババの出前サービス「餓了麼（ウーラマ）」の配送員になって1年たつ。

上海のオフィス街の浦々まで、1日に30件を配送する。食事は隙間時間に15元ほどの麺、ぶっかけ飯をかき込む。狭いアパートをさらに区切った粗末な住まいに暮らすが、現金収入は増えた。

出前の配達員や配車サービスの運転手と言った雇用だけでなく、スマホで選んだ衣料をレンタルできるサブスクリプション（定額制）サービスなどスマホ決済を基礎にした新しい事業もなお生まれ続けている。

Translation

[Shanghai = Zhang Yuxiang] Smartphone payments led by Alibaba Group, Tencent, were completely replacing cash. Usage ranged from payments at actual stores to various services that could be received on smartphones, and even including medical care; its convenience had far exceeded cash. According to a questionnaire conducted by the Nihon Keizai Shimbun in August, 47% or nearing half of the respondents said that the number of times they used smartphone for payments was more than 90 in the past month.

“In the past month, I have used my cash only once. My smartphone battery ran out.” Henan University instructor Zhao Yuanzhang (29) said that all payments were made with the smartphone, except for the 100 yuan (about 1500 yen) paid for refueling his car. Such an example was more natural in urban areas.

When Nihon Keizai Shimbun surveyed more than 50 people through SNS (exchange site), nearly 90% of respondents said that the number of times they used cash within the past month was "less than 5 times". On the other hand, only 3% of respondents answered that smartphone payments were "under 30 times a month". Although most respondents lived in urban areas, and the young people in their 30s accounted for more than 80%, it seemed that there was still remained a “overlapping” before smartphone payments could become more established.

Alibaba and Tencent together had 1 billion users. Although it could not be compared simply to include overseas users, the working-age population in China had exceeded the 900 million. Excluding children and the elderly, the majority of Chinese used smartphone to make payments.

There were several reasons why smartphone payments had spread so rapidly in China. Until just 5-10 years ago, there was a certain amount of fake bills and the reliability of cash was unsatisfactory. If you used smartphone payment, problems such as “paid, not paid” would be dramatically reduced in online shopping. The reason was that it was simple, and the cost was much lower than existing payment methods.

In the case of Zhīfùbǎo (Alipay) handled by Alibaba, there was no fee for remittance or for the settlement between individuals. It was far below of what was generally accepted at a 0.6% for corporations, and at 2-5% for credit cards. Any cash lost and fees for transport that came along were added to the expense. The fact that the balance between cost and reliability exceeded that of existing payment methods had solidified Alipay position as a de facto.

The questionnaire also asked the purpose of the largest smartphone payment in the past month. There were continuous sayings on payments such as car down payments (60,000 yuan = about 900,000 yen), necklaces (60,000 yuan), rent (10,000 yuan), and computers (9800 yuan). There were only two cases of payment exceeding 10,000 yuan in cash, and cases of tens to hundreds of yuan such as parking fees and transportation costs were conspicuous.

In Japan, it could be seen that for small amount there was the transportation IC, and for huge amount credit cards were used separately. In China, smartphones handled almost all payments. Because there was an underdeveloped payment method, such as the slow spreading of credit cards, it brought about a rapid development, the so-called leapfrog (frog jumping).

Smartphone payments were also creating new jobs.

“My monthly income ranges from 6,000 yuan (about 90,000 yen) to 7,000 yuan. There are no such good jobs in my hometown of Anhui.” It had been one year since Mr. Kang Xiaohui (28) became a delivery person for Alibaba's " Èle me (Are you hungry)” delivery service.

He delivered 30 items to the Shanghai office streets district in one single day. During the meal time gap he quickly swallowed down the noodles, the dish rice that costed up to 15 yuan. Although living in a shabby small apartment that had been further cut into small units, his cash income had increased.

New businesses that based on using smartphone for payments were continued to be created, such as those that employed drivers for home delivery and for the dispatch service etc., and also the subscription (flat-rate) service that could use smartphones to choose rental clothing.

     It seems that city people in China is ahead of those in Hong Kong, Canada and Japan in embracing electronic payment in their daily life. I am interested to know the reasons for that.