Despite two years of promoting personal cheques in Shanghai, they have not taken off. Shops are as tardy in accepting cheques as before, making payments more a hindrance than a convenience.
Consumers still carry around wads of cash in plastic bags when they shop for big-ticket items. So, when you queue behind someone paying for a television set or furniture in cash, you had better be patient as the cashier counts and recounts the banknotes, the biggest denomination of which is 100 yuan (about HK$92.90).
The idea of having to spend a considerable amount of time in a queue - assuming there are no queue jumpers - is enough to deter impatient shoppers from buying in stores that attract huge crowds.
So, if anyone needs a convincing reason to develop a cash alternative in Shanghai or other parts of the mainland, he need not look further, especially when he considers the size of the retail market.
Ministry of Internal Trade figures show that retail sales for the year are expected to reach 2.9 trillion yuan. Imagine the time wasted and inconvenience caused to consumers each year because of a shortage of alternatives to cash to pay for purchases.
But as competition for the retail dollar hots up, some shops are waking up to the reality that they must speed up the pace of transactions to keep customers happy.
Fortunately, the desire to improve their sales service coincides with a growing awareness among banks to develop an alternative to cash payments.