373 mn rural residents used mobile banking in China in 2016

About 373 million rural residents in China made payments totalling to $3.4 trillion by mobile banking apps in 2016, an increase of 35$, the central bank said on Saturday.

About 373 million rural residents in China made payments totalling to USD 3.4 trillion by mobile banking apps in 2016, an increase of 35%, the central bank said today.

This photo taken on March 7, 2017 shows Chinese employees working on micro and special motors for mobile phones at a factory in Huaibei, east China's Anhui province. (AFP)

Transactions totalled 23.4 trillion yuan ($3.4 trillion) up 71%. The number of transactions jumped by 62% to 5.1 billion, according to the People’s Bank of China (PBOC).

Mobile banking posted the fastest growth among non-traditional payment methods in rural China, with online banking stagnant and telephone banking falling significantly.

It is costly and time consuming for residents in underdeveloped or remote areas to reach banks and ATMs, so mobile banking is becoming crucial in rural areas.

About 126,700 bank branches are located in rural areas, or 1.4 branches for every 10,000 residents, with 3.8 ATMs per 10,000 residents, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.