[photopress:mobile_payment.jpg,full,alignright]Interesting to see if this works. China is not like the rest of the world. It shows a resistance to credit cards and seems not to be too enthusiastic of mobile payment where you use something else, in this case a mobile phone, instead of cash.
There are enough mobile phone users (as in well over 400 million) to make it a total replacement for cash and even credit cards. This is most unlikely to happen. But the idea of SmartPay, which is quick, convenient and as available as a mobile phone, is so persuasive that the mobile phone users of China might go for it.
The idea is that you wave your mobile phone near a pay point and the amount is charged to your account. SmartPay, a Chinese e-payment services provider, has just launched various payment services in partnership with China Unicom for Shandong province. The services include airline ticketing, lottery payment, utility bills and certain kinds of retail transaction.
SmartPay and Unicom also announced the launch of network of recharging and retail sales points for payment services using SmartPay’s mobile payment technologies.
Will it work? It is totally impossible to predict but fascinating to watch.
Source: Engaging China
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