(Yicai) June 30 -- Shanghai, which has the world's biggest metro network, has opened up payment by bank card and digital yuan to the city's more than 500 metro stations to make the public transport system more convenient for inbound visitors.

The Shanghai Metro expanded its "tap-and-go" trial for bank cards and e-yuan hard wallets to its entire network on June 28, urban rail operator Shentong Metro Group announced the day before. Passengers will be able to pass through ticket barriers by simply tapping chip-enabled cards, including those from major providers UnionPay, Visa, and Mastercard.

Users of the Shanghai Maglev, which serves Shanghai Pudong International Airport, have been able to pay this way since June 14.

Shanghai Metro is 896 kilometers long with 21 lines and 517 stations, carrying more than 77 percent of the city's public transport users every day, Shentong noted. The new payment system will make it much easier for inbound travelers to get around and it will help attract more international tourists, it added.

Overseas visitors can quickly apply for and top up e-yuan wallets at self-service terminals at border customs points, airports, high-speed railroad stations, and hotels, Shentong said, adding that the wallets do not entail user identification, ensuring privacy and security.

The e-yuan wallet is a sovereign digital currency carrier launched by China's central bank in 2022, providing offline payment functions based on smart cards, smartphones, and other electronic devices. 

Since the e-yuan pilot program started in 2019, the People's Bank of China has launched a range of products, including the e-yuan app and the e-yuan wallet, and had expanded the pilot area to 17 provinces and municipalities. Related transactions have topped CNY7.3 trillion (USD1 trillion) as of the end of last July, according to official figures.

E-yuan wallets are mainly operated by state-owned commercial banks, including Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Agricultural Bank of China, Bank of China, China Construction Bank, and Bank of Communications.

Editors: Dou Shicong, Martin Kadiev