An in-depth article that provides an expert analysis of how the traditionally cash-focused landscape in China has been “completely transformed” by the introduction of digital and mobile payment services like Alipay and WeChat Pay is now available to download free of charge from the NFC World Knowledge Centre.

‘Payments disrupted — How the tech giants are changing the future of payments in China’ provides detailed insight into the country’s shift to digital, beginning with an overview of China’s traditional payment landscape and then detailing the journey Alipay and WeChat Pay have taken to spur the adoption of mobile payments.

The article then examines how QR code technology has and will continue to play a central role in this transformation, before providing insight into the traditional banks of China and how they are currently losing out on billions of dollars in fees to third party players and what they need to do in their response to modern challenges.

The paper then provides three key observations that can serve as lessons for other markets, including the importance of developing a digital infrastructure, taking a ‘wait and see’ regulatory approach and maintaining hardware neutrality.

“Despite all of the positive developments, China’s online and mobile payment industry still faces challenges,” Zennon Kapron, founder of Asian financial services research and consulting firm Kapronasia, explains in the article. “We are still very much in the early days of fintech, both inside and outside China. How this all plays out remains to be seen, but the initial impact of digital finance on China is difficult to over-exaggerate.”

Readers can download Kapron’s eight-page article from the NFC World Knowledge Centre.

• This article is part of What’s New in Payments 2, a 76-page special report that explores and explains the latest payment trends and technologies. You can download the entire report here.

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