How much do Chinese pay for each purchase? What are the features of purchase numbers and amounts in different industries and districts? China Unionpay, a bankcard organization in China, has conducted a research on consumption structure of domestic bankcards, which offers us reference to those questions. CUP’s research indicates that, with an improving bankcard acceptance environment and increasing awareness of card payment, bankcard has been popular in small amount purchases under 500 yuan, and played a key role in big amount purchases such as houses and cars. Bankcards are playing an active role in every aspect of our lives.
Small Amount Purchase Becomes Mainstream of Card Swipe
According to CUP’s analysis of cross-bank transaction data in August across China, small amount single purchases under 500 yuan paid by bankcard accounts for 80% of the total transactions.
The fact that small amount purchase has become the mainstream of card swipe indicates that China’s bankcard purchase has entered a popularization stage and Chinese have been increasingly dependant on bankcards for their daily payment. With improving bankcard acceptance environment, bankcard payment has been widely accepted in our lives. By the end of September 2008, the merchants in the national bankcard network had exceeded 1 million, the on-line POS terminals had surpassed 1.6 million, and the on-line ATM terminals had approached 150,000, which could well meet the cardholders’ needs for card payment.
CUP’s data also shows a 65% of the total bankcard transaction amount for large amount purchases over 10,000 yuan, despite the transactions accounting only for less than 1%. This indicates that bankcard payment, safer and more convenient than in cash, has be accepted and played an important role in large amount purchases such as houses and cars, and wholesale ones.
Different Industries Have Their Own Laws on Purchasing Ranges
CUP’s research shows that there are laws in purchases made by domestic cardholders in main commodity categories. According to the data of Chinese cross-bank transaction in August, purchases made in the supermarkets are mostly of small amount due to its association with daily life, with card swipes under 50 yuan accounting for nearly 50% of the total; about half of the purchases in restaurants and hotels range from 100 to 500 yuan; while the purchases for jewelries, arts & crafts, and appliances are evenly distributed in various ranges from 100 to 5000 yuan, reflecting the diversity of commodity and service as well as the differentiation of prices in these industries.
Car sales and real estate, the traditional large amount purchase industries, have witnessed small amount purchases by except for large ones over 10,000 yuan, according to CUP’s research. Card purchases ranging from 100 to 1000 yuan for cars is obviously on an increase, which indicates that car refueling and auto accessories have also become important card purchasing areas in addition to direct expenditure on cars. In real estate sector, the number of single card purchase under 2000 yuan accounts for over one-third of the total, which shows that bankcards are widely used for smaller payment such as intermediary commissions and house rent besides for deposits, down payment, and installment in real estate industry.
Bankcard Purchasing Structure Reflects Consumption and Economic Features in Different Areas
CUP’s research results show that regional disparities of card purchasing behaviors are contributed by joint efforts of such factors as regional economic development levels, price levels, residents’ purchasing power, bankcard acceptance environment, and etc. According to the data of Chinese cross-bank transaction in August, Tianjin and Guangdong led in the proportion of card purchases under 100 yuan of the total, accounting for 64% and 59% respectively. This reflected, to some degree, an above-average bankcard popularity in China and more popularity of small amount purchases. While Shenzhen, Xiamen, Beijing and Shanghai have more purchases from 100 to 1000 yuan, making up 45％, 44%, 43% and 43％ respectively, higher than that of Guangdong and Tianjin. Compared with Guangdong and Tianjin where bankcard acceptance environment and card usage frequency are basically similar, Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Xiamen therefore show their relatively higher price level to some degree.
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