Currently in China which is pretty much fully cashless and I fucking hate it.
Get Alipay. Link your credit card. Put in a pin, but no not that pin because it has two consecutive numbers. Pick a different pin. Forget it by the time you need to pay and reset your pin. Go to the grocery store and have to download a new app to pay, they can’t take Alipay even though it’s the same parent company. Oh the machine didn’t work, so pull your phone out again to scan. And the endless additional services you need to sign up for to avoid price discrimination upwards of 200%.
It’s a nightmare. Japan has it right, keeping with a cash based society.
When I was visiting China in 2019 it was just about still possible to use cash, but it was obvious the way things were going. As a visitor I wasn't able to use any of the available cashless payment methods (no bank account, for a start), so I don't know how visitors and tourists will cope.
It's much easier if you have Chinese ID or at least vefified Weixin (WeChat) account. AliPay with linked credit card is a kludge for tourists. It works, but only as good as you expect from a kludge. Like I was able to pay pretty much everywhere with AliPay in Beijing, but a few vending machines stubbornly refused to accept it.
Get Alipay. Link your credit card. Put in a pin, but no not that pin because it has two consecutive numbers. Pick a different pin. Forget it by the time you need to pay and reset your pin. Go to the grocery store and have to download a new app to pay, they can’t take Alipay even though it’s the same parent company. Oh the machine didn’t work, so pull your phone out again to scan. And the endless additional services you need to sign up for to avoid price discrimination upwards of 200%.
It’s a nightmare. Japan has it right, keeping with a cash based society.