{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,4]],"date-time":"2026-05-04T23:24:49Z","timestamp":1777937089550,"version":"3.51.4"},"reference-count":37,"publisher":"SAGE Publications","issue":"4","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,4,1]],"date-time":"2021-04-01T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1617235200000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/page\/policies\/text-and-data-mining-license"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100002920","name":"Research Grants Council, University Grants Committee","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["HKU 27606617"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["HKU 27606617"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100002920","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["journals.sagepub.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["New Media &amp; Society"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2021,4]]},"abstract":"<jats:p>This article adopts an infrastructural perspective to analyse Chinese migrant factory workers\u2019 conceptions of and approaches towards storing money on digital payment platforms. Scholars studying infrastructural systems have emphasised that such systems generally only become visible upon breakdown. However, this article finds that during the emergence of new infrastructures for monetary storage, existing infrastructures \u2013 along with the money stored within them \u2013 also become rendered conspicuous to users. In such moments, migrant factory workers are forced to assess the differences between existing and new infrastructural systems and make careful decisions over how to store their money. We claim it is necessary to acknowledge the shifting visibility of infrastructures during occasions of systemic transformation. Doing so can help to better understand how users navigate such infrastructures in attempts to solve problems of storage, while in the process re-evaluating their relationships with a variety of entities and institutions.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1177\/1461444820954198","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,4,13]],"date-time":"2021-04-13T01:07:42Z","timestamp":1618276062000},"page":"715-731","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1177\/sage-journals-update-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":3,"title":["\u2018What would happen if you can\u2019t see your money?\u2019: Visibility and the emergent infrastructures of digital money storage in China"],"prefix":"10.1177","volume":"23","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9606-6420","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Tom","family":"McDonald","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Yanan","family":"Guo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"179","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,4,12]]},"reference":[{"key":"bibr1-1461444820954198","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jce.2015.12.011"},{"key":"bibr2-1461444820954198","unstructured":"Baptiste E, Horst HA, Taylor EB (2010) Haitian monetary ecologies and repertoires: a qualitative snapshot of money transfer and savings. Report, Institute for Money Technology and Financial Inclusion, Irvine, CA."},{"key":"bibr3-1461444820954198","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jdeveco.2013.07.014"},{"key":"bibr4-1461444820954198","volume-title":"Banking in Modern China: Entrepreneurs, Professional Managers, and the Development of Chinese Banks, 1897\u20131937","author":"Cheng L","year":"2003"},{"key":"bibr5-1461444820954198","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1080\/14765284.2012.699702"},{"key":"bibr6-1461444820954198","unstructured":"de Bruijn ME, Butter IC, Fall AS (2017) An ethnographic study on mobile money attitudes, perceptions and usages in Cameroon, Congo DRC, Senegal and Zambia. Report, IFC-MasterCard Partnership for Financial Inclusion. Available at: http:\/\/saipar.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Final-Report-Ethnographic-Study-on-Mobile-Money_March-2017.pdf"},{"key":"bibr7-1461444820954198","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.17705\/1jais.00200"},{"key":"bibr8-1461444820954198","unstructured":"Edwards PN, Jackson SJ, Bowker GC, et al. (2007) Understanding infrastructure: dynamics, tensions, and design. Report. Available at: https:\/\/deepblue.lib.umich.edu\/bitstream\/handle\/2027.42\/49353\/UnderstandingInfrastructure2007.pdf"},{"key":"bibr9-1461444820954198","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jebo.2017.08.014"},{"key":"bibr10-1461444820954198","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.5040\/9781350221093"},{"key":"bibr11-1461444820954198","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1177\/2050157912464490"},{"key":"bibr12-1461444820954198","volume-title":"Money from Nothing: Indebtedness and Aspiration in South Africa","author":"James D","year":"2015"},{"key":"bibr13-1461444820954198","unstructured":"Kapron Z, Meertens M (2017) Social networks, e-commerce platforms, and the growth of digital payment ecosystems in China: what it means for other countries. Available at: https:\/\/www.betterthancash.org\/tools-research\/case-studies\/social-networks-ecommerce-platforms-and-the-growth-of-digital-payment-ecosystems-in-china"},{"key":"bibr14-1461444820954198","unstructured":"Lee A (2018) As China goes increasingly cashless, PBOC says cash payment is still alive. South China Morning Post, 13 July. Available at: https:\/\/www.scmp.com\/business\/money\/article\/2155223\/china-goes-increasingly-cashless-pboc-says-cash-payment-still-alive"},{"key":"bibr15-1461444820954198","volume-title":"The Meaning of Money in China and the United States","author":"Martin E","year":"2014"},{"key":"bibr16-1461444820954198","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1162\/itgg.2009.4.2.77"},{"key":"bibr17-1461444820954198","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1017\/S0305741019001073"},{"key":"bibr18-1461444820954198","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1080\/17531050903273768"},{"key":"bibr19-1461444820954198","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.17705\/1jais.00195"},{"key":"bibr20-1461444820954198","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1177\/1461444816661553"},{"key":"bibr21-1461444820954198","volume-title":"Migrant Labor in China: Post-socialist Transformations","author":"Pun N","year":"2016"},{"key":"bibr22-1461444820954198","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.7551\/mitpress\/9780262170062.001.0001"},{"key":"bibr23-1461444820954198","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.2307\/j.ctvqsdxtv"},{"key":"bibr24-1461444820954198","unstructured":"Sina Finance (2009) Postal savings: the course of a century, come rain or shine (Youzheng: Yige Shiji Fengyu Licheng). Available at: http:\/\/finance.sina.com.cn\/money\/bank\/yhpl\/20090331\/13056047313_2.shtml"},{"key":"bibr25-1461444820954198","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1177\/00027649921955326"},{"key":"bibr26-1461444820954198","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.5771\/9781442236783"},{"key":"bibr27-1461444820954198","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.2307\/j.ctvw04bp0.7"},{"key":"bibr28-1461444820954198","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1353\/anq.2018.0026"},{"key":"bibr29-1461444820954198","unstructured":"Taylor EB, Baptiste E, Horst HA (2011) Mobile money in Haiti: potentials and challenges. Report, Institute for Money Technology and Financial Inclusion, Irvine, CA."},{"key":"bibr30-1461444820954198","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1596\/978-1-4648-0560-8"},{"key":"bibr31-1461444820954198","unstructured":"The World Bank (2019) Gross domestic savings (% of GDP). Available at: https:\/\/data.worldbank.org\/indicator\/NY.GDS.TOTL.ZS?end=2017&locations=CN&start=1960"},{"key":"bibr32-1461444820954198","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1177\/0162243913516012"},{"key":"bibr33-1461444820954198","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.18574\/nyu\/9780814795262.001.0001"},{"key":"bibr34-1461444820954198","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1177\/2057047318755528"},{"key":"bibr35-1461444820954198","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.2307\/j.ctt1g69xtj"},{"key":"bibr36-1461444820954198","unstructured":"Wang Y (2017) You don\u2019t need a wallet in China, just your smartphone. Available at: https:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/ywang\/2017\/05\/15\/your-mobile-money-surviving-a-day-in-china-without-cash-or-cards\/#13d521ea7626"},{"key":"bibr37-1461444820954198","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.4159\/harvard.9780674434745"}],"container-title":["New Media &amp; Society"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/pdf\/10.1177\/1461444820954198","content-type":"application\/pdf","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/full-xml\/10.1177\/1461444820954198","content-type":"application\/xml","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/pdf\/10.1177\/1461444820954198","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,2]],"date-time":"2026-05-02T03:50:53Z","timestamp":1777693853000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/10.1177\/1461444820954198"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2021,4]]},"references-count":37,"journal-issue":{"issue":"4","published-print":{"date-parts":[[2021,4]]}},"alternative-id":["10.1177\/1461444820954198"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1177\/1461444820954198","relation":{},"ISSN":["1461-4448","1461-7315"],"issn-type":[{"value":"1461-4448","type":"print"},{"value":"1461-7315","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2021,4]]}}}