Money laundering has a new twist in China’s battle with coronavirus. Banks are being ordered to remove potentially contaminated notes from circulation. Only after sterilisation can they return to general circulation. The outbreak will further fuel China’s embrace of digital payments.
The survival time of the virus on inanimate objects like banknotes is thought to be measured in mere hours but authorities are taking no chances. Chinese citizens are already less reliant on cash. Mobile payments are ubiquitous in Chinese cities. One study suggests 98 per cent of residents use them.
Measuring the speed at which banknotes change hands is difficult. The best proxy is how long it takes for a note to wear out. Smaller denominations wear out faster due to more frequent use. A $1 or $5 bill has a relatively short lifespan of 1.5 years. They are estimated to change hands on average about twice a week. For a $20 bill, the measure is a third lower. It gets progressively smaller for larger denominations.