China’s RMB yuan currency comes in 1, 5, 10, 20, 50, and 100 元 denominations. It fluctuates, but 100 RMB is roughly equivalent to less than $15 USD.

Now, imagine if the largest bill in the US or Canada was $15. Or if €10 was the largest note you could carry around in the EU. Now also imagine that in addition to these small notes, North America or Europe were primarily cash-based societies. This is the situation in China.

What does this result in?

- Carrying a brick of 100 RMB notes to pay your 3 month rent deposit because your landlord only accepts cash.
- Men who carry murses because 20,000 RMB does not fit in a wallet.
- Common sights of people at banks pulling out stacks upon stacks of a million yuan in 100 RMB notes to deposit.
- ATM lineups that take forever (ATMs have 3-5000 RMB withdrawal limits per transaction, requiring you to repeat the process each time until you have as much as you need).
- ATMs that are often out of cash.

Not to mention the fact that most people (well, not me) are often walking around with a ton of cash on them. If China weren’t one of the safest countries in the world, I’d feel extremely uneasy about all of this.

In the last few years – especially in Shanghai – debit cards and online banking use has risen dramatically. The infrastructure has always been there, but it seems only to have really caught on in the last 5 years or so to the point that you can walk into most major stores and be able to use a bank card to purchase something.

But cash isn’t going away in the foreseeable future, so this doesn’t change the fact that China needs a higher currency note. I’m no economist, so I’m sure there’s some complicated reason why this hasn’t happened yet, but I don’t see why they just can’t issue a 500 RMB or 1000 RMB note like Hong Kong has with the HKD. It would make rent day much easier.