Digital money comes to Beijing subway

Starting on Wednesday, people in Beijing can use digital RMB to board all subway lines in the city, following Suzhou, Jiangsu province, which was first to adopt the practice in the transportation sector.

According to the Beijing Municipal Commission of Transport, subway riders need to download a mobile app that is linked with a bank account to access the service, which is convenient and fast. At present, the service is available at all 24 subway lines and four suburban railway lines in Beijing. For now, the digital account should be from Industrial and Commercial Bank of China.

The commission said it welcomes feedback from the public about the service. The hotline number is 96123.

"The service is a result of the financial digitalization in city development. The Beijing subway will promote the application of digital RMB in more scenarios," the commission said.

Yuan Fang, a resident of Beijing, who used the digital RMB or e-CNY to pay for the subway on Wednesday morning, said it was faster than she thought. "Hopefully, it can be used in more places and pay for more items or services, which I believe will bring huge change to people's lives," she said.