With the development of electronic payment, the cash collection and payment environment has undergone major changes, and the phenomenon of cash rejection occurs from time to time. In order to strengthen the basic guarantee role of cash services, the People's Bank of China has recently launched a special rectification work on the refusal to accept RMB cash, imposed penalties on cash refusals, consolidated the consensus on the illegal refusal of cash, and actively promoted cash service facilitation measures.
Towards the end of the year, the People's Bank of China issued two more units that refused to accept RMB cash and imposed fines of 190,000 yuan and 50,000 yuan respectively. These are just some of the units that have been rectified by the People's Bank of China for refusing to accept RMB cash. Since 2018, the People's Bank of China has taken the lead in rectifying the refusal of cash, established a consultation mechanism for rectifying the refusal of cash, and punished the refusal of cash in accordance with the law, and achieved certain results.
Status quo. More and more offline scenarios and mobile payments**.
The mapping is generated by Tencent's hybrid model.
At present, the rectification of cash refusal is facing a new situation and new situation, and it is necessary to further intensify the work and carry out comprehensive rectification on a regular basis. Luo Rui, director of the Currency, Gold and Silver Bureau of the People's Bank of China, said that more and more offline scenarios and mobile payments** have made it difficult to use cash. At the same time, some business entities are less willing to collect cash, and are unwilling to increase their spending on preparing change, training cashiers, and going to commercial banks to deposit and withdraw cash.
This is also reflected in the counter operations of some banks. The reporter learned from ICBC that the amount of cash received and paid over the counter of the bank's outlets showed a downward trend, with an average annual decline of about 14% from 2019 to 2022. According to relevant sources of the Agricultural Bank of China, from 2021 to 2023, the total amount of counter access of the bank has decreased year by year, from 598 trillion yuan fell to 478 trillion yuan.
In order to further intensify the work and carry out comprehensive rectification on a regular basis, starting from October 2023, the member units of the consultation mechanism will jointly carry out a six-month special action to rectify the refusal of cash, and organize and carry out a comprehensive survey of the refusal of cash, mainly focusing on basic public services, administrative fees, transportation, large and medium-sized businesses, parks and scenic spots, small and micro economies and other livelihood scenarios. The People's Bank of China has also further carried out investigation and punishment, imposing penalties and publicizing violations of the law with high public attention and large scope of influence.
As of December 24, 2023, the People's Bank of China has completed six penalty procedures for refusing to accept cash, and commercial banks have signed a "letter of commitment not to refuse cash" with business entities7510,000 copies, and issued "coin purses" to business entities1820,000.
Explanation. RMB cash is the most basic means of payment in China.
Many people wonder: mobile payment is so convenient, why do you need to protect cash payment?
In this regard, Luo Rui said that RMB is China's legal tender, and RMB cash is the most basic means of payment in China. The use of cash is almost not limited by the environment, scenes, and material conditions, and does not require application foundations such as bank accounts and mobile terminals, which is very important for specific groups such as the elderly and rural residents.
The reporter learned that the People's Bank of China requires commercial banks to further improve the level of facilitation of cash deposit and withdrawal business for the elderly and other groups, and to prepare and improve the efficiency of handling for special needs such as pension payments and small and medium-sized denominationsProvide priority windows and green channels for cash business for the elderly, and provide special cash services for the elderly with reduced mobility.
Wang Jinguo, deputy general manager of the operation management department of the Agricultural Bank of China, said that the bank has made a decision on 140,000 outlets will be renovated for the elderly, and more than 200,000 person-times will be provided for the elderly and other groups with reduced mobility in 2023.
Despite this, the cash services of some commercial banks are still insufficient, some banks have reduced the number of cash handling windows and ATM machines, and some banks have reduced the level of cash services such as change exchange and damaged currency**.
Luo Rui said that it is necessary to continuously improve the cash service level of commercial banks, organize commercial banks to maintain a reasonable scale of cash service windows and self-service cash machines, and supervise and urge cash services such as change banknote exchange and damaged currency. Relying on commercial bank outlets to establish a grid working mechanism, find out the cash receipt and payment situation of merchants, and provide door-to-door cash services in a targeted manner.
Set store by. Improve the level of payment services for overseas personnel coming to China.
In addition to improving the facilitation of cash deposit and withdrawal services for the elderly and other groups, the People's Bank of China also attaches great importance to improving the level of payment services for overseas people coming to China.
The mapping is generated by Tencent's hybrid model.
Zhang Meng, deputy director of the Currency, Gold and Silver Bureau of the People's Bank of China, pointed out that in order to further improve the level of payment facilitation for overseas personnel coming to China, the People's Bank of China, together with the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, has established a special working mechanism, formulated a specific work plan, and issued the "Guiding Opinions on Improving the Payment Service Level of Overseas Personnel Coming to China". Carry out a thorough investigation of the convenience of cash use in foreign-related scenarios such as mobile communications, catering and accommodation, parks and scenic spots, transportation, wholesale and retail, cultural and sports venues, and currency exchange points in areas where foreign visitors to China gather. As of December 24, 2023, a total of 980,000.
According to Yang Renrong, a member of the Party Committee of the Zhejiang Branch of the People's Bank of China, in order to improve the payment service level of overseas personnel in China, the Zhejiang Branch of the People's Bank of China launched the implementation of the province's payment facilitation project for overseas personnel, focusing on key areas such as "food, housing, transportation, travel, shopping, and entertainment" involved in overseas personnel, and actively establishing and improving the payment service system including foreign card acceptance, foreign currency exchange, cash payment, mobile payment, and digital RMB. At present, 85% of Zhejiang's key commercial outdoor cards have been accepted, 99% of ATMs have been transformed in key areas, and 2 million mobile payment merchants can be accepted. There are 5,700 bank outlets that have opened foreign exchange settlement and sales services for private purposes, and 2.67 million e-RMB merchants can accept them.
Deep reading
Who are the heavy users of cash?
So, who is using cash?According to the data disclosed by Zhang Meng, the current use of cash is mainly in rural areas and the elderly (over 65 years old). "In particular, the elderly in the county are more dependent on cash. According to the sample survey, more than 75% of the elderly regularly use cash. Among them, the number of elderly people in the county accounts for 804%, and the proportion of elderly people in urban areas is 676%γIn addition, small and micro businesses in wholesale and retail industries, as well as migrant workers in urban areas, also use more cash. He introduced.
Relevant data from commercial banks also show that the elderly are "heavy users" of cash. Dai Xinchen, deputy general manager of the operation management department of ICBC, disclosed the relevant data of the bank from the perspective of the bank's counter cash deposit and withdrawal business: "After the transition of epidemic prevention and control, the cash receipt and payment volume of outlets at the counter in 2023 increased by 8% year-on-year to 85 trillion yuan. In terms of customer age, elderly customers aged 60 and above account for more than 45%. β
Wang Jinguo, deputy general manager of the operation management department of the Agricultural Bank of China, said that the counter business of the bank's elderly customers accounted for 54%, mainly card-fold deposits and withdrawals, and there was an obvious preference for over-the-counter cash business. In addition, he spoke about the structural differences in cash preferences across regions β "In general, the total amount of deposits and withdrawals in the South is slightly higher than in the North. Some areas, such as Gansu and Qinghai, are dominated by agriculture and animal husbandry, and are more inclined to cash transactions."
Rectification of refusal to accept RMB cash is in action
A staff member at a bank counts cash in renminbi. Courtesy of IC.
To rectify the refusal to accept cash, different places also have their own tricks.
Zeng Zhicheng, vice president of the Beijing branch of the People's Bank of China, introduced that in the investigation and punishment of illegal acts of refusing to accept cash, the Beijing branch of the People's Bank of China adhered to the combination of severe punishment and publicity and guidance, and imposed penalties on the subjects of refusal to accept cash with high public attention and large scope of influence, and successively gave economic penalties ranging from 50,000 yuan to 500,000 yuan to 20 illegal entities that refused to accept cash, with a cumulative fine of 3.04 million yuan, ranking first in the country in terms of the number and amount of penalties, which played a strong deterrent role. The penalized units involve tourist attractions, transportation, health care, parking lots, shopping, catering, entertainment and other industry scenarios, and the effect of promoting reform is significant. For small and micro economies that have a low degree of public attention and a small scope of influence, and other entities that refuse to accept cash, warning education is the mainstay.
Yang Renrong shared the specific measures taken by the Zhejiang Branch of the People's Bank of China in the special rectification work of refusing to accept RMB cash, including: strengthening the grid management of cash circulation, actively promoting cash service facilitation measures, and making every effort to carry out the three-dimensional construction of the cash circulation environment. Among them, he mentioned that the People's Bank of China will organize banking institutions to carry out "coin purse" door-to-door exchange services to reduce the trouble of merchants "running to the bank to exchange change".
The "Coin Purse" service has also received a response from a number of financial institutions. "ICBC has innovatively launched multi-coupon coin purses such as 300 yuan and 500 yuan to provide door-to-door delivery and in-store 'instant redemption' services for key merchants such as clothing, food, housing, transportation, travel and shopping, so as to meet the needs of the majority of merchants for cash change and preparation. Dai Xinchen said.
ABC has explored the 'coin purse' service model, and carried out research and pilot projects in supermarkets, hospitals, pharmacies and other scenarios involving people's livelihood through the form of 'bringing in' over the counter and 'going out' merchants, and has launched the 'coin purse' service in 29 branches across the country. Wang Jinguo said.
What should I do if I encounter a cash rejection?Zhang Meng introduced that when the public encounters the refusal to accept cash, they can clearly inform the other party that their behavior is illegal, retain relevant ** and audio evidence, and complain and report to the local branch of the People's Bank of China.
Integration: Zhu Lin.
*: Xinhua News Agency, Financial Times, **Times, Beijing News.