Renminbi overtakes Japanese yen as global payments currency

China’s renminbi has surpassed the Japanese yen to become the world’s fourth-most-used payments currency, despite an unexpected devaluation and concerns about slowing Chinese growth. The renminbi accounted for 2.79 per cent of global payments in value terms in August, up from 2.34 per cent in July and higher than the yen’s 2.76 per cent share, according to Swift, the payments services provider. As recently as August 2012 the renminbi ranked number 12 with 0.84 per cent but has since surpassed the Hong Kong dollar, Swiss franc and Canadian dollar among others. It trails only the US dollar, euro and pound sterling. FT subscribers can read more by clicking the (VIEW LINK)