Spending habits: Why Japanese consumers are hesitant to move away from physical cash

Yuka Uchijima and Chris Illsley

In Japan, consciousness around spending and residual fears of corruption mean consumers are hesitant to move away from physical cash – but that is slowly changing.

In Japan, consciousness around spending and residual fears of corruption mean consumers are hesitant to move away from physical cash. But that is slowly changing.

Begging in China has gone cashless. The growing trend for e-payments, which resulted in 58.8tn renminbi (US$8.8tn) of mobile payment transactions in 2016, has seemingly made its way to the streets.

Some of the country's most needy are now accepting donations via QR codes hung around their necks or, in a nod to more traditional methods, stuck to the side of a tin cup.

It has been claimed that this is a ruse by local...

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