China seeks to take digital transactions to rural areas by 2020

Going cashless is convenient, secure, and also the new driving force for the global economies to run. However, education and reach have a role to play in the adoption of digital methods of transactions. China is now looking at ways to enable its citizens, living in even remotest of villages, to pay on their phones for everyday purchases or transactions.

As TechCrunch reported, Beijing has announced that it aims to make mobile payments ubiquitous in rural areas by the end of 2020. In the set of guidelines released by five regulating bodies including the central bank, the Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission, the Securities Regulatory Commission, the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, the government highlights its plan of digitising the lives of its citizens by making online financial services more accessible to rural residents.