How China got a head start in fintech, and why the West won’t catch up
Payment apps like Alipay and WeChat transformed daily life in China. The West won’t see a similar payments revolution—and that might even be a good thing. In 2013 I moved from Paris to Beijing to study China’s financial system. I stayed for two years and became fluent enough to translate economics books from Mandarin into English and give talks on monetary policy in Mandarin. But I never really felt I fit in until I visited again and Alipay finally approved me...