China’s mobile payment systems put to the test on a cash-free day out in Shenzhen

Two hundred yuan (30 US dollars, HK$235) for a SIM card with one gigabyte of data. “It’s a really good deal,” the salesman reassures us. We are in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen and about to spend a day there without a cent in hard cash. But first, we need that mobile data – an absolute essential, second only to a smartphone.

“Later you can just top it up online,” the salesman adds. I hand him two crumpled 100 yuan banknotes to pay for the SIM card. That is the last time I will use cash during my time in the city, a hotbed of innovation nicknamed China’s Silicon Valley.

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I had already made an earlier visit to the city to open a Chinese bank account. Now that I’m back, I need to set up phone “e-wallets” for China’s two most popular mobile payment systems (MPS): WeChat Pay, owned by Tencent, and Alipay, owned by the Alibaba Group (which also owns the South China Morning Post).

The Chinese government enforces real-name registration, so I must verify my identity using an official document – in this case, my home return permit – and link the e-wallet to my new bank account. The staff at the bank where I set up my account complete the entire activation process for me, making things a lot easier.

The first challenge is a short taxi ride. After arriving at our destination, the driver pulls up, asks whether I want to pay through Alipay or WeChat Pay, then calls up the relevant QR code on his phone. I use the scanning app on my phone to read his code, type in the fare, and it’s done.

We head to Dong Men Ding Plaza, a three-storey mall filled with stalls selling street food: rice-stuffed chicken wings, grilled skewers, boiled crayfish, crabs, you name it. Here, cash used to be king, but no longer.