Chinese non-cash payments rise in 2019

The transactions of non-cash payments in China last year surged 50.25 percent year-on-year, data from the central bank showed on March 17.

The amount of money involved in non-cash payments, including commercial papers, bank cards and online payment vehicles, stood at 3,779.49 trillion yuan (about $539.2 trillion) in 2019, up 0.29 percent from the previous year, according to the People's Bank of China (PBOC).

In 2019, transactions via bank cards totaled 886.39 trillion yuan, up 2.82 percent from 2018. The number of bank cards continued to grow quickly, as each Chinese owned 6.03 bank cards on average.

Mobile payments registered robust growth last year, PBOC data showed, as banks and financial institutions transacted 347.11 trillion yuan of mobile payments, up 25.13 percent year-on-year.

Non-bank payment vehicles transacted 249.88 trillion yuan of online payments during the period, increasing by 20.1 percent last year.