Merchant-Centered Design and the Last Mile in China

China’s position as a global leader in financial inclusion puts it at the forefront of resolving last-mile challenges — inevitably the most difficult, time consuming and expensive to address. One lesson? Success requires more than creating digital accounts. People need convenient, welcoming, relevant places to use them. Accordingly, small merchants who are part of a connected, global digital payments system are key to generating sustained usage. Yet, China’s experience shows that even when these entrepreneurs are part of a cashless ecosystem, some populations still rely heavily on cash, especially low-income and older people in rural areas. Closing the gap means new approaches and financial products as well as consumer education, based on research that gives nuanced understanding of these households’ needs and motivations.