Tag: china mobile

China to be one of the few countries to have a unified, national payments platform

China is currently working to develop a national mobile payments platform. Once the platform is launched, China will be one of the very few countries in the world to have a unified mobile payments system. Chinese consumers have been involving themselves in mobile commerce quite heavily in recent years. As mobile devices become more common throughout the country, people are using these devices to shop online more regularly. The country’s retailers have also been embracing mobile commerce in an effort to connect with a new generation of consumers.

Payment platform expected to make use of NFC Technology

China’s mobile commerce platform is to make use of NFC technology. The country believes that NFC has a bright future in mobile commerce because of the growing number of devices that are making use of this technology. NFC has formed the backbone of mobile commerce for some time and has been praised for its ability to transmit digital information over short distances efficiently. Unfortunately, mobile devices that do not support NFC technology are unable to use NFC-based platforms unless these platform offer support for devices that are not NFC-enabled.

Several organizations come together to help develop national payments platform for China

The China Constrction Bank, China CITIC Bank, China Everbright Bank, China UnionPay, and China Mobile have been linked to the development of the country’s national payments platform. These organizations already have some experience in mobile payments and have been promoting mobile finance for some time. According to the People’s Bank of China, mobile commerce is currently undergoing a standardization process wherein consumers are becoming more comfortable with purchasing products from their mobile devices.

Chinese consumers favor platforms that do not rely solely on NFC technology

Payments processed through NFC-based services represent approximately 0.8% of mobile spending throughout China. Many retailers have opted to support other mobile commerce services that do not rely entirely on NFC technology to engage consumers. Given the low availability of NFC-enabled devices, consumers have shown favor for NFC-free platforms that allow them to shop for and purchase products online.

UnionPay and China Mobile have come together and have now launched the latest system into the country.

According to the Xinhua News Agency in China, the latest reports from China Mobile and China UnionPay include the launch of a new mobile payments system that will be based on NFC technology.

This near field communication form of system has experienced significant struggles taking off in the West.

However, this latest system to enter the massive Chinese marketplace will be based on NFC technology for the transition of data from the smartphone of a consumer to a reader at the point of sale. Trusted Service Manager services for the management and provisioning of the system will be offered through a partnership in which both companies will cooperate.

This is considerable NFC technology news as UnionPay is the exclusive Chinese domestic bank card.

The NFC technology platform from UnionPay is the only domestic bank card that is available within the country. Furthermore, China Mobile is the biggest carrier in the country. At the moment, it boasts over 700 million subscribers.

A number of other Chinese banks will be taking part in this effort to introduce and broaden the use of NFC technology for mobile payments in the country. These participants include the Bank of China, China Minsheng, Everbright, CITIC, Shanghai Bank, GF, and Beijing Bank, according to the official news report.

The report also indicated that the NFC technology mobile payments system was ready for immediate launch and would be available right away in a number of cities across China. It indicated that the first cities in which this payment option would become available to smartphone consumers include Shanghai, Shenzhen, Beijing, Guangzhou, and Nanjing.

If this system is successful, this could be an extremely meaningful shot in the arm for NFC technology that has struggled to gain adoption in a number of other large markets, particularly in the West. There are a number of hurdles still standing in the way of the success of the transaction method, but the two companies in this partnership have remained confident that they will be able to overcome those challenges.