83% Chinese aware of mobile wallets compared with 57% in Asia

Awareness amongst Chinese people of mobile wallets as an option for making digital payments is very high, at 83%, according to a survey by Paypal of seven Asian markets. The overall score for awareness in Asia stood at 49%, with 35% of people reporting that they use it as a method of payment. Just 15% of people use new payment options for most transactions. Overall, 57% of people across Asia still use cash for most transactions, but that figures conceals large country variations, ranging from 75% in India to just 25% in China.

China is leading the way on this front. Only 25% of respondents from China cited cash as the most often used form of payment, compared to 48% who cited e- or mobile wallets as being their top preference according to PayPal.

In China, awareness of e-wallets/mobile wallets is very high with 83% of respondents being aware of this option. That is second only to cash. The awareness in China is being driven by the ubiquity of homegrown Internet giants, as many of them have started to incorporate digital payment features as part of their offering to consumers.

While 49% of respondents said they were aware of mobile wallets, only 35% said they are currently using it and only 12% of respondents cited them as being the mode they use most often. However, China is the

standout in this category as 83% of respondents said they are aware of e- or mobile wallets and 78% said they are using them.

China, Hong Kong and the Philippines, however, revealed slightly lower levels of contentment with current modes of payment in comparison to the regional average with 31%, 40% and 40% respectively.

In China, Alipay (71%) ranks as the top digital payment mode accepted by merchants.

Merchants are increasingly moving away from traditional platforms and going into where consumers are to sell their products. 80% of merchants surveyed said they are selling via social media. Facebook (73%), Instagram (45%) and WhatsApp (43%) are the top three platforms for social commerce across the region, except in China where domestic players, like WeChat (90%) and Sina Weibo (51%) are the dominant players.

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