Security is becoming a top priority for those involved in mobile payments

China’s mobile payments sector saw dramatic growth in 2015, and this momentum may hold throughout this year. The country’s mobile technology sector has been developing very quickly, with new devices becoming available and access to the mobile Internet expanding. As more consumers gain access to smartphones, they are beginning to rely more heavily on mobile payments services. As these services become more popular, China’s regulators are beginning to focus on security issues in order to ensure the continued growth of mobile commerce.

China’s mobile population is growing quickly

The Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology notes that there are more than 1.3 billion people in China with a mobile device. Many of these consumers are using their mobile devices to shop online and in physical stores. The problem, however, is that the mobile payments sector is becoming increasingly attractive to malicious groups that want to exploit consumer information. Security risks are causing concern among consumers, making them shy away from mobile payments services.

Focus on security may make consumers more comfortable with mobile payments

A greater focus on security may ensure the continued growth of the mobile payments industry by making consumers more confident in the services they use. To ensure security, some companies involved in the mobile commerce space are beginning to use new technology to protect consumers. Biometric technology, in particular, is becoming quite popular among these companies. This technology leverages biological information, such as a fingerprint, to protect consumer information that is stored on a mobile device.

Bringing mobile payments platforms into new service industries has become a priority

Beyond security, Chinese companies must find ways to integrate mobile payments into other service industries. This would ensure the expansion of the payments market and give consumers more access to platforms they may be interested in. As more organizations support mobile payments, both digital and physical, more consumers are likely to participate in this new form of commerce. Alibaba is expected to lead the expansion of mobile payments into new service industries with its Alipay platform and its focus on consumer security. Alipay accounts for some 400 million registered users, more than half of whom use the service quite frequently.

The tech giant is hoping to sweeten the deal of the smartphone and the application suite with a new bundle.

In what appears to be a move to try to drive more smartphone sales, Microsoft is adding free software including a year of the Office 365 suite, to people who purchase either of two Lumia smartphone models.

The two models that will include a free subscription to the app suite are: Lumia 950 and Lumia 950 XL.

The two are being bundled together so that anyone who purchases one of those two smartphone models will be able to receive a year of Office 365 for free. Among the apps that are included in the suite are Word, PowerPoint and Excel. Typically, subscribing to these apps for a year would cost the user $70. This isn’t the first time this type of offer has been made by Microsoft in order to drive sales of the devices. Last year, a similar bundle was offered when the Lumia 640 and Lumia 640 XL devices were purchased.

Beyond the free year of Office 365 subscription, it also includes a terabyte of OneDrive cloud storage for a year.

Anyone who has purchased a Lumia 950 or Lumia 950 XL between November 20, 2015 right through to June 30, 2016 will be able to take advantage of this deal, provided the devices are registered within that time frame. The offer is being made to consumers in the United States, as well as those in Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Norway, France and the United Kingdom.

These models will also be sold with a free Microsoft Display Dock when an unlocked version of the smartphone is purchased. That offer, however, runs only until the end of January, while supplies last (whichever is sooner). The use of the Display Dock, while Continuum technology enabled, allows users to be able to use their smartphones to work on their Office based documents.

The Lumia 950 isn’t new to Microsoft incentives to try to boost the sales. While the Office 365 bundle is the most recent, the devices were also sold with a $50 discount offer last fall.