**: China ** News - China Securities Network.
The executive meeting held a few days ago deliberated and passed the "Opinions on Further Optimizing Payment Services and Improving Payment Convenience". On February 29, a reporter from the China ** Daily learned from the People's Bank of China held a meeting to promote the optimization of payment services that a number of institutions have achieved positive results in improving the convenience of payment for the elderly, foreign visitors and other groups.
Pan Gongsheng, governor of the People's Bank of China, said that improving the level of payment services for the elderly, overseas personnel and other groups is an important system project, involving many departments and covering a wide range, and all units should effectively unify their thoughts and actions on the decision-making and deployment of the highest level, take pragmatic and effective measures and rapid action, make substantial progress in a relatively short period of time, significantly improve the level of payment services, serve the people's livelihood and ensure opening up.
Improve the convenience of payment for special groups.
Aunt Wu, who has been selling green onion buns by the West Lake for more than 30 years, does not speak a foreign language, but has started a global business on her doorstep. She said that foreign tourists would ask, 'Do you sweep me, or do I sweep you?' Jing Xiandong, chairman and CEO of Ant Group, introduced.
In recent years, a number of institutions have made useful explorations in improving the convenience of payment for the elderly, foreign visitors and other groups. Jing Xiandong said that in order to facilitate the payment of overseas users in China, Alipay has cooperated with Bank of China, ICBC, Netlink, overseas wallets, etc., and launched two sets of mobile payment solutions for external card binding and outsourcing for internal use. At present, tens of millions of domestic Alipay merchants have fully opened up to two sets of mobile payment solutions, covering all aspects of the daily consumption of overseas users in China, and bringing new business to the majority of small and micro merchants.
The products that facilitate the payment of foreign visitors to China are becoming more and more diversified. Hu Haozhong, executive vice president of China UnionPay, introduced that China UnionPay has created a full solution covering online and offline, domestic and overseas, connected and non-connected, and card code compatibility. For users who are accustomed to swiping cards, 2300 million UnionPay cards, all of which can be used inbound; For users who are accustomed to scanning QR codes, 200 overseas e-wallets are supported for domestic use; For users who are accustomed to contactless payments, UnionPay cards have been supported in more than 10 countries and regions to be linked to Apple Pay or Huawei Pay.
If you don't have the above products, foreign visitors to China can also apply for a travel card through UnionPay to meet your short-term entry payment needs. Hu Haozhong said that during the Spring Festival in 2024, the transaction amount of foreigners in China through the UnionPay network increased by 30% year-on-year.
In terms of serving the elderly, Wang Zeyu, general manager of the personal digital finance department of the Bank of China, introduced that the bank organized a special action to identify the standard of model outlets for the elderly. Provide cash counters, personalized change, residual banknote exchange, currency anti-counterfeiting publicity and other services to facilitate cash payment for the elderly, and always retain passbook and deposit receipt services, taking into account the use habits of the elderly; At the same time, it comprehensively optimizes the service experience of mobile banking for the elderly, and transforms the functions commonly used by elderly users such as account management, transfer, wealth management, deposit, pension, medical insurance card, and phone bill recharge, showing large fonts, large line spacing, large focus, and high contrast effects.
Optimize and improve payment services.
It is understood that the "Opinions" emphasize the need to focus on the inconvenience of payment for the elderly, foreign personnel and other groups, strengthen coordination and cooperation, increase the necessary resource investment, take multiple measures to break through service blockages, and promote the parallel development and complementarity of mobile payment, bank cards, cash and other payment methods.
A number of institutions said that they will fully implement the requirements of the "Opinions" and promote the substantive optimization and improvement of payment services as soon as possible in accordance with the work deployment of the People's Bank of China.
In response to the inconvenience of card swiping and contactless payment in China, and the inadaptability of the elderly and foreign people to use mobile payment, UnionPay will work with all parties in the industry to launch the 'Splendid Action 2024'. Hu Haozhong introduced that the action will cover 40 key cities across the country, "food, housing, transportation, travel, shopping, entertainment, medicine, learning" and other 8 categories of 24 high-frequency payment scenarios, as well as card swiping, code scanning, mobile phone pay, ATM cash withdrawal and other solutions, to promote the parallel development of mobile payment, bank cards, cash and other payment methods, complement each other.
Pan Gongsheng said that to promote payment facilitation, it is necessary to give full play to the joint efforts of multiple departments, adhere to goal-oriented and problem-oriented, especially focusing on bank card acceptance, cash payment and mobile payment. At present, payment institutions have also launched mobile payment solutions for external card binding and outsourcing for internal use, which further facilitates the payment of overseas users in China.
The meeting also stressed that the People's Bank of China will work with relevant parties to adhere to goal-oriented and problem-oriented, coordinate efforts to make up for shortcomings and weaknesses according to the payment habits of different groups, continue to deepen the construction of payment service scenarios, continuously improve the inclusiveness of payment services, strive to improve the multi-level and diversified payment service system, provide more high-quality, efficient and convenient payment services for the elderly, foreign personnel and other groups, and better serve the people's livelihood and high-level opening up.