Chinese digital payments reach nearly $2.9tr in 2016

Alipay and WeChat Pay enabled $2.9 trillion in Chinese digital payments in 2016, up twenty-fold increase in the past four years, according to a new UN study.

The data show that digital payments, using existing platforms and networks, provide access to a wider range of digital financial services, expanding financial inclusion and economic opportunity throughout China and neighboring countries.

In India, both Ant Financial and Tencent have bought into the Indian mobile payments market, which is enjoying rapid growth under new regulation.

Ant Financial and Alibaba invested up to $900 million in PayTM, as well as sharing staff and technical expertise. The result: PayTM has grown from 5 million to around 200 million users in just the last few years.

Indonesia was the fastest-growing m-commerce market in the world in 2016, the report showsexpanding 155% from January 2016 to January 2017.

Some of this growth may be due to the release in 2015 of BBM Pay’s Instant Mobile Payments. The popular BBM chat app has over 55 million users in Indonesia and continues to develop.

The new report by the UN-based Better Than Cash Alliance contains key lessons to help other countries include more people in the economy by transitioning from cash to digital payments.

This shift could increase GDP across developing economies by 6% by 2025, adding US$3.7 trillion and 95 million jobs, according to a McKinsey Global Institute report.

“Social networks and e-commerce platforms are growing in every economy, whether large or small,” said Ruth Goodwin-Groen, Managing Director at the Better Than Cash Alliance.

“In China digital payments are thriving from these channels, bringing millions of people into the economy. This matters because we know that when people – especially women – gain access to financial services, they are able to save, build assets, weather financial shocks, and have a better chance to improve their lives.”