On October 23 afternoon, “Huarui Fintech Salon (No. 4)”, co-organized by Shanghai HuaRui Bank, the International Monetary Institute (IMI) of Renmin University of China (RUC) and RUC FinTech Institute, was held online. Themed at “Digital Payment: A Lever to Digitalize Small and Micro Businesses”, the salon was joined by keynote speaker Yao Zeyu, Executive Director of the Research Department of China International Capital Corporation Limited. Fellow participants of the salon include Yang Tao, Director of Research Center for Payments & Settlements at Institute of Finance and Banking, CASS and Deputy Director of National Institute for Finance & Development, Zhang Chunxia, General Manager of Nanjing Suning Pay Network Technology, and Feng Jiaqi, Director of strategic research at Ant Group Research. The event was moderated by Wang Jian, Senior Research Fellow of IMI and Chief Analyst of Banking at Guosen Securities Economic Institute.

Wang Jian first introduced organizers of the event and extended welcome to all guests. He noted that digital payment is a key component of the financial system and the cornerstone of real economy’s digital transformation. He pointed out that the salon will hold discussion about the underlying logic, recent updates and the significance of digital payment in modern economic and financial system, which will contribute to economic development.

Yao Zeyu delivered a keynote speech on “Digital Payment as A Lever to Digitalize Small and Micro Businesses”. His observations are threefold. First, as the market comes to digital transformation 3.0, services market for offline small and micro businesses are reaching a turning point, with overall revenue of the industrial chain expected to exceed ￥200 billion in 2025. Second, the service chain consists of five segments, namely mobile payment, digital operation, advertising, financial services, and scenario-based services. As offline small and micro businesses have their unique features, the key to sustainable digital operation service is the capability to reach out to businesses, while product and service quality are essential for differentiation and competitiveness. Third, major players in the services market for offline small and micro businesses fall into four categories: local lifestyle service platforms, large service institutions, payment aggregator, and SaaS service providers.

The participants then had extensive discussion about the keynote and relevant issues and shared their views on digital payment of small and micro businesses, including its current condition, challenges ahead and possible ways of comprehensive development.