Lai see, taxis and the future of cash

AS THE Chinese New Year (CNY) approaches, Hong Kong residents join patient queues at bank branches across the city. In accordance with time-honoured tradition, they are seeking fresh, crisp and newly-printed banknotes to give as lai see in red envelopes, bringing the recipient good fortune for the lunar year ahead.

The origins of giving banknotes at CNY are shrouded in the mists of time. But while the tradition of red envelopes - or hongbao - endures in mainland China, those envelopes have become digitised, are paid into mobile wallets and sent via Tenpay and Alipay.

This digital takeover of an old custom reflects the broader abandonment of cash in the Chinese mainland, where paper money originated as long ago as the seventh century. More than 92 per cent of the population in big cities use mobile wallets as their main means of payment, making digital payments so prevalent for every type of purchase that the authorities have felt the need to uphold the role of cash.