Beijing Metro to Exclusively Use Electronic Receipts
Beijing takes another step towards implementing its electronic utopia with the news that its subway system will stop issuing paper invoices next month.
Beginning Aug 1, the Beijing Metro will exclusively issue electronic receipts for all ticket sales. Under the new policy, commuters will only be able to receive sales invoices through an online system bound to a transportation card.
The new e-invoices signal a break from decades of tradition. Known in Chinese as fāpiào (发票), the receipts are issued for everything from taxi rides to shopping purchases and most commonly used for revenue or tax purposes. And while the pockets of Beijing subway commuters will become less cluttered, the new policy won't necessarily signify an end to bureaucracy.
READ: One Card to Ride Them All: Subways Across China to Unify Payment Systems
Online applications for a Beijing Metro e-invoice will require up to three months and is only valid up to the day before the application is made. To this end, a commuter that wants a year-end record of their subway expenses will have to wait until March, but not before having to apply at the top of the year. Additionally, the invoices (that were first introduced in May) are only available to users of the Beijing transport card (一卡通 yīkǎtōng) and require real-name registration.
As inconsequential as paper receipts are to many subway users, the Aug 1 policy signals the unstoppable trend of Beijing's public at large to welcome electronic conveniences at the expense of personal privacy.
This past May, the Beijing Metro began allowing commuters to pay for their fares using a QR reading system after having earlier adopted NFC phone technology for Android and iPhone users. This past month has also seen Chinese train stations introduce an e-ticket system that allows passengers to board trains with just their phones.
READ: Wedome Launches First Unmanned and 24-Hour "Intelligent" Store at Chaoyangmen, and It's Great
But our reliance on our phones may itself be coming to an end soon. At the same time as Beijing Metro considers adopting facial recognition technology at its subway stations, the capital has already begun using them at its train stations, airports, staffless convenience stores, fast food restaurants, universities, and public restrooms.
As a matter of fact, cashless sales have become so prevalent in big cities like Beijing that China's central banking authority has recently urged smaller businesses not to discriminate against cash purchases.
We've come a long way ever since the Beijing Metro replaced its old paper tickets with the newer electronic variety over 10 years ago, probably further than we ever imagined. For now that we have a sprawling subway system that can identify us everywhere we go, it's just like how Buckaroo Banzai said it would be:
Wherever you go, there you are.
Images: BJ News (bj.news.163.com)
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