With the prosperous development of e-commerce and mobile internet and the accompanying rapid growth of potential demand for these services, the popularity of mobile payments has grown and is showing robust momentum.
A recent report by Deloitte & Touche says mobile payments in China, though still in their infancy with uncertain policies, undeveloped technologies and limited application scenarios, will experience a golden era of development in the next three years.
Wang Wei has more:
Accounting firm Deloitte & Touche recently released a report indicating that by 2015 mobile payments will become the mainstream means of paying for goods and services in China.
Not long before the report came out, McDonalds and Starbucks set up agreements with mobile payment companies PayPal and Square so their customers can swipe their mobile phones when purchasing burgers and lattes in some parts of the world. Soon Chinese consumers will join their ranks.
Li Jun, Senior Manager of Financial Services at Deloitte & Touche China, says the development of mobile payment systems will not only be more convenient for consumers but also benefit commercial banks and other financial service agencies.
"Banks that develop mobile payment services expand their business channels, raise their customer retention rates and improve their customer service levels, so I think mobile payments will enhance banks' competitiveness."
But consumers are more concerned about security when paying for goods or services via their mobile phones.
Li Jun says those involved in creating mobile payment platforms are pushing for the establishment of an independent third-party service management platform. To be credible, the platform must not have any close connections to any participating businesses. He says the platform should work like PayPal when it comes to overseeing online purchases.
"The third-party service management platform will make payments safer. If you lose your mobile phone, you can inform the platform and it will shut down all the services and payment app accounts so that no one can steal your account information and use your money."
Li Jun says the service will come at a price. Customers will probably need to pay about 100 yuan for an IC card chip to be installed in their mobile phones to enable mobile payments. Along with the rapid development of the technology, the chips will eventually be integrated into mobile phones in the first place, so many may consider buying a new handset that could cost a few thousand yuan.
Although Li Jun is optimistic about mobile payment development in China, Chen Zhen, Vice Chairman of the China Electronic Commerce Association, says improvements are needed in several areas.
"We need to improve our technology and business model. We lack a credible service management platform and an operational standard. And a proper business model is far from settled." |
