2019年经济学人 电子支付(1)

 

Leaders

来源于《社论》版块

Digital payments

电子支付

The dash from cash

现金的猛冲

Rich countries are racing¹ to dematerialise payments. They need to do more to prepare for the side-effects

发达国家竞相使用电子支付。应做好准备应对随之而来的副作用

For the past 3,000 years, when people thought of money they thought of cash. From buying food to settling bar tabs, day-today dealings involved creased² paper or clinking bits of metal. Over the past decade, however, digital payments have taken off— tapping your plastic on a terminal or swiping a smartphone has become normal. Now this revolution is about to turn cash into an endangered species in some rich economies. That will make the economy more efficient—but it also poses new problems that could hold the transition hostage.

过去的三千年间，提起钱人们就会想起现金。从购买食物到结算酒吧消费，日常交易都涉及到皱巴巴的纸币或叮当作响的金属币。然而，过去十年间，电子支付突然取得成功，在终端机划卡或刷手机已经成为常态。现在，这场革命即将让现金在发达国家成为濒危物种。这将使经济更加有效，但同时也带来了一些新的问题，这些问题可能会阻碍经济转型。

Countries are eliminating cash at varying speeds. But the direction of travel is clear, and in some cases the journey is nearly complete. In Sweden the number of retail³ cash transactions per person has fallen by 80% in the past ten years. Cash accounts for just 6% of purchases by value in Norway. Britain is probably four or six years behind the Nordic countries. America is perhaps a decade behind. Outside the rich world, cash is still king. But even there its dominance is being eroded⁴. In China digital payments rose from 4% of all payments in 2012 to 34% in 2017.

现金在各个国家消失的速度不同。但是，旅行的方向是明确的，在某些情况下，旅程几乎已经完成。在过去的十年里，瑞典人均零售现金交易数量下降了80%。按价值计算，现金仅占挪威购买量的6%。英国可能比北欧国家落后四或六年。美国或许落后了十年。而在发达国家之外，现金仍然是王道。但即便非发达国家，其主导地位也正在受到侵蚀。在中国，电子支付占所有支付的比例从2012年的4%升至2017年的34%。

1 racing   

n.竞赛，赛马；adj.竞赛用的，赛马用的

参考例句：

• I was watching the racing on television last night.昨晚我在电视上看赛马。
• The two racing drivers fenced for a chance to gain the lead.两个赛车手伺机竞相领先。

2 creased   

（使…）起折痕，弄皱( crease的过去式和过去分词 )； （皮肤）皱起，使起皱纹； 皱皱巴巴

参考例句：

• You've creased my newspaper. 你把我的报纸弄皱了。
• The bullet merely creased his shoulder. 子弹只不过擦破了他肩部的皮肤。

3 retail   

v./n.零售；adv.以零售价格

参考例句：

• In this shop they retail tobacco and sweets.这家铺子零售香烟和糖果。
• These shoes retail at 10 yuan a pair.这些鞋子零卖10元一双。

4 eroded   

adj. 被侵蚀的，有蚀痕的 动词erode的过去式和过去分词形式

参考例句：

• The cliff face has been steadily eroded by the sea. 峭壁表面逐渐被海水侵蚀。
• The stream eroded a channel in the solid rock. 小溪在硬石中侵蚀成一条水道。