the staff of the convenience store swiped the mobile phone, and once the payment was completed, it was a crisp "ding" or a vibration.

Convenience stores, small bank outlets, payment of water and electricity charges ... The paperless society seems to have dissolved the traditional sense of "cash", and the paper money in circulation has dropped sharply.

In daily life, QR code seems to solve all the revenue and expenditure procedures. It doesn't need substantial physical contact between the two sides, and it doesn't need to toss and turn for "change". However, only when consumers rarely use cash but are rejected, some consumers may regain such a consumption psychology, that is, "I can pay without cash, but you can't refuse cash."

The places where QR codes are widely used for payment are mostly the places that are the most difficult to deliver with paper money, and usually the places that are the least "waiting" for paper money.

corresponding policies are already in effect.

"The moment when I decided to start spending paper money is the moment when I really realized the need to start scrimping.". A college student used it to describe his living expenses. The reality is that these banknotes may be difficult to spend.

A consumer who has been in Beijing all the year round has recently encountered several cases in which merchants refused to accept cash. "Recently, I happened to find some cash at home and wanted to spend it simply." I know that people don't often accept paper money nowadays, and I understand that merchants may disagree when looking for paper money, but I didn't expect that nowadays, it is so common for merchants to refuse to accept cash for such blunt reasons.

In her experience, convenience stores, chain coffee shops, stores in shopping malls, and some living expenses such as water and electricity all have more or less rejection of paper money.

"There is not enough change." -It is a common reason for merchants to reject and reject.

"It's hard to spend money in the convenience store downstairs." The above-mentioned consumers said that sometimes the store clerk can't be found at all, so I can only scan the code and choose the mobile phone to pay; Sometimes there are shop assistants in the store, but when I indicate that I want to use cash, the other person apologizes and says that there is not enough change for me in the store at present. "She added," They are saying these things and don't even know how much they need to find me. "

another consumer who travels to and from Beijing and Shanghai all the year round also said that he had encountered the situation of not accepting cash in convenience bees, Starbucks and 711.

he said that there are several reasons for refusing the bill, either there is no paper money, it is not convenient to find paper money at present, there is not enough paper money, or the paper money is in the checkout counter, but the key is not in the store at present.

"These reasons are not convincing. How can a shop not keep paper money?" He said, but I didn't stick to it. On the one hand, I was worried that it would affect the customers behind me, and on the other hand, I was too lazy to entangle with each other. He added that there were even some merchants who refused to accept cash in the name of "Sorry, it is not convenient for us to accept cash here".

"The situation in large shopping malls is much better." Another consumer said that it may be because there is a unified cashier counter in large shopping malls, and the daily transaction volume also urges them to have enough banknotes.

The scene of rejecting banknotes is not limited to this. Parking lots, paying vehicle tickets, small bank outlets and insurance institutions all have the phenomenon of "rejecting banknotes".

"The opponent's change speed is very slow." A consumer said that he therefore chose to pay the parking fee online. "I tried to use cash once, but because the other party's speed was slow, the vehicles waiting in line behind me kept whistling to remind me that I was inexplicably embarrassed."

according to the data of the central bank, in the fourth quarter of 2121, it punished 32 companies that refused to accept cash. The amount of penalty varies from 511 yuan to RMB -11111. The units to be punished include public service institutions such as water and electricity, gas and property payment, as well as parking lots, insurance companies, chain restaurants and medical institutions.

Refusal of cash also happens from time to time in insurance companies. According to the 21th Century Business Herald, the penalty information in the fourth quarter of last year showed that Jiangling Branch of PICC P&C Insurance Company, Yongan Insurance Director Center Branch, China Life Property Insurance Co., Ltd. Changzhi Houbao Branch and Hezhong Life Insurance Co., Ltd. Changzhi Center Branch were all warned for refusing to use RMB cash to pay premiums, and were fined RMB 9,111, RMB 51,111, RMB 51,111 and RMB 51,111 respectively.

"Insurance companies usually can't accept cash from customers." In this regard, a staff member in the insurance field explained that we are all corporate accounts and collect premiums through banks. The four major banks are their corporate accounts.

"Bank outlets cannot suspend cash business." A bank staff member said, but the withdrawal is taking place. In the past, two or three cash business counters have now become one.

when asked whether to report and complain by phone afterwards, several consumers with similar experience said that there were few. "At the beginning, I called the 12345 citizen hotline to complain." One of them said that after the staff asked about the location and specific circumstances of the rejection, there was no feedback.

The merchants at the other end of the scale seem to have something to say in the "paper money problem". "In most cases, we really can't get change." A staff member of a convenience store said that during most of the week, there were only a few banknotes from 5 yuan and 1 yuan in the cash register, which simply could not meet the possible demand for banknotes.

He said that he would try his best to encourage consumers to use online payment. "Most people who insist on using paper money are elderly people. In this case, if we can't get change, we will borrow some cash from neighboring businesses first, but it will take a lot of time."

Another community worker takes "no cash" for granted. "Residents will report the water, point and gas degree lines to us, and then pay or transfer money online, which will save both parties trouble."

When asked if some people, including the elderly, insist on using cash, the community worker said that in most cases, she would explain how to use online payment. "Many children of the elderly can also pay online, and it is really necessary to deliver cash. In most cases, I make an appointment and collect it at home."

"Refusing cash" is nothing new. On the one hand, online payment has developed due to the advantages of convenience, rapidity and security (avoiding receiving counterfeit banknotes); On the other hand, services such as life and consumption have also opened up online channels. The two promote and strengthen each other. Therefore, people gradually reduce their dependence on paper money and adopt seemingly more efficient cashless payment methods.

the wide application of intelligent services is profoundly and continuously changing the way people live and consume. In February, 2121, the central bank pointed out that while encouraging the development of diversified payment methods, it is a major issue for the People's Bank of China to protect the public's demand for cash use and maintain the legal status of RMB.

as early as 2117, some large internet companies publicized and promoted cashless payment methods, which were later stopped by the central bank. At that time, the central bank issued a notice saying that some recent activities such as cashless payment methods promoted in some areas or cooperation with Ant Financial Services to create cashless cities have interfered with the circulation of RMB, which has aroused great social repercussions and caused great misunderstanding to the public.

However, the epidemic has further affected the ecology of cash payment. The "normal state of isolation" under the epidemic situation further gave birth to "online life", which led to a surge in online services.

according to the data of the central bank, by the end of 2121, China's domestic cash in circulation (M1) was 9.18 trillion yuan, up 7.7% year-on-year. The central bank said that the innovation of consumption and payment methods should be conducive to the smooth payment circulation environment, the protection of people's livelihood, and the promotion of public happiness and sense of gain. Discriminatory or inconvenient measures should not be taken to exclude cash payment, resulting in a "digital divide".

the central bank pointed out that RMB is the legal tender in China, and RMB cash is the most basic means of payment in China, and no unit or individual may refuse it.

the regulatory authorities have intensified the rectification and punishment of "refusing cash". According to the introduction of the central bank, in the whole year of 2121, * * * verified 212 cases of refusing cash, criticized and educated violations with little impact, and imposed administrative penalties on 87 cases with great impact, accounting for 41% of the amount of cash refused.

The attitude of the central bank is further refined on how to regulate the behavior of "refusing cash". In the announcement in 2118, the central bank said that under the premise of accepting cash payment, it encouraged the use of safe and legal non-cash payment tools to protect the people and consumers' choice of payment methods.

in announcement No.18 in February, 2121, starting from the overall ecological environment of cash receipt and payment, the subjects of cash circulation, use and management were divided into three categories: cash receipt and payment subjects, cash receipt and payment service subjects and cash ecological subjects. In addition, focusing on the high-frequency scenes of public daily consumption, the announcement made different provisions on different business scenarios such as administrative charging units, public service agencies and small and micro economic entities. For example, small and micro economic entities that provide goods and services face to face can support multiple payment methods, but they should accept cash payment. For unmanned sales and network operators, consumers' cash payment needs under special circumstances (such as insufficient mobile phone power and network failure) should be met in an appropriate way, and explanations should be made to the public.

At the symposium on RMB cash service of banking financial institutions jointly held by the Central Bank and China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission, Fan Yifei, deputy governor of the Central Bank, made an analysis from different macro, meso and micro levels.

Fan Yifei said that at the macro level, national economic growth has played a supporting and pulling role in the growth of cash demand; At the meso level, due to the prosperity of private economy and the active small and micro enterprises in some developed areas, the cash demand has always been relatively strong; At the micro level, cash has a low threshold, strong anonymity and fast payment, and certain groups such as the elderly, farmers, small and micro enterprises and individual industrial and commercial households prefer to use cash.

"Cash service is the most basic and fundamental financial service, and cash delivery and storage is the most basic business operated by banking financial institutions." Fan Yifei pointed out that according to the preliminary investigation, some bank outlets also stopped cash deposit and withdrawal business, involving rural credit cooperatives, foreign banks, and some state-owned banks.

regarding the phenomenon that "only cash is accepted" in some public consumption scenes, Guo Xinming, governor of Nanjing Branch of the Central Bank, said in an interview with 21th Century Business Herald that under the premise of accepting cash payment, safe and legal non-cash payment tools should be encouraged to protect consumers' right to choose payment methods.

"With the development of digital economy and the emergence of new formats and models, the supervision of cash receipts and payments also has a process of deepening understanding and improving measures." Guo Xinming said that in industries with new formats and new trading modes, businesses should pay attention to retaining cash payment channels and fully respect the public's choice of payment methods.

"In terms of protecting the rights and interests of special groups such as the elderly, it is necessary for all parties to work together to continuously improve their service awareness, meet the diverse and reasonable payment needs of the masses, and bridge the' digital divide'." Guo Xinming added.

Ceng Gang thinks that for some banks, the business involving cash needs some other fixed expenses such as security, storage conditions, network design and security requirements, and the cost is not low. If the cost of handling cash business exceeds the income that cash customers can bring, merchants are reluctant to accept cash because there is a cost-benefit consideration here. Therefore, cash receipt and payment is not a complete "yes or no" problem, it depends more on the cost and income of the market.

He said that at this stage, some individuals still have the need to use electronic payment instead of collecting cash notes. Therefore, from the perspective of supervision, out of the need for inclusive finance and the habits of middle-aged and elderly people and some difficult groups, it is unrealistic to completely stop cash receipt and payment, otherwise it will be unfair to them in practice.

However, Ceng Gang also said that from the perspective of anti-money laundering and so on, the regulators actually don't want the cash transaction volume to be too large. In the future, the focus of supervision will shift to non-cash management to further standardize the online market order.

In Ceng Gang's view, it is a public welfare policy not to refuse cash. In the short term, this will cost some money. In fact, supervision also wants to achieve a balance. However, in the long run, the use of cash will be less and less. Even people who have the habit of using cash at present may gradually turn to online payment in the future.

"But this does not mean that the cash business volume will continue to grow, and the proportion of cash will decline until it reaches a critical point." Ceng Gang added that this is a process of transformation and transition, giving people who have the habit of cash payment a window.

the introduction of digital RMB will accelerate the trend of "paperless" payment. Ceng Gang thinks, "Besides, from the consumer's point of view, online payment is the most convenient form. It can not only improve the payment efficiency, but also take into account the security of payment. "

Guo Xinming said that the current Regulations on the Administration of Renminbi stipulates the issuer, types and liquidity of Renminbi. However, the "Regulations" was promulgated in 2111, and the background of its promulgation is quite different from that of the present. The determined ideas, principles and contents have not adapted to the development and changes of economy and finance and the innovative needs in the payment field, and can not meet the practical needs of RMB cash management in the digital economy era. Guo Xinming said that it is necessary to improve the laws and regulations related to the rectification of cash refusal as soon as possible from the perspective of top-level design, so as to provide legal support for standardizing and efficiently rectifying the behavior of refusing RMB cash.

In Guo Xinming's view, the current laws and regulations do not stipulate the cash use behavior under the new format, nor do they clarify the obligations of banking institutions in cash services. With the popularization and development of mobile internet information technology, e-commerce platforms, unmanned sales, self-service, network government affairs and other scenarios provide goods and services and perform legal duties in a networked and unmanned manner, and in principle do not have the conditions for cash collection. For special groups, the problem of "digital divide" brought by intelligent technology and digital services has become increasingly prominent.

On March 11, the Bureau of Currency, Gold and Silver of the Central Bank wrote that the use of cash is hardly restricted by environment, scene and hardware conditions, and cash service is the most basic and fundamental financial service. With the rapid development of mobile payment, many people still keep the habit of using cash.

The article shows that in order to facilitate people's access to and use of small denomination RMB, the People's Bank of China has organized commercial banks to establish a supply mechanism for small denomination RMB, urged banks to strengthen the publicity of exchange reservation, make service commitments, and make preparations according to the seasonal characteristics of cash operation, and ensured the implementation of policies through unannounced visits and satisfaction evaluation, so as to fully meet people's demand for small denomination RMB.

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