WeChat red packet users record new high during lunar New Year holiday — Xinhua — “About 768 million people used the service during the holiday, rising 10% compared with last year’s holiday… Someone from the east Chinese city of Nanchang was the luckiest user, receiving 3,429 red packets, while one generous user from west China’s Chongqing Municipality gave 2,723 red packets.”
China
Alipay parent Ant Financial to go public at a $100bn valuation?
China’s Ant plans equity fundraising at potential $100 billion valuation — Reuters — “China’s Ant Financial Services Group is planning to raise up to US$5bn (£3.59bn) in fresh equity that could value the online payments giant at more than US$100bn… A fundraising would bring Ant, in which e-commerce firm Alibaba Group Holding Ltd is taking a one-third stake, a step closer to a hotly anticipated initial public offering.”
Apple to accept Alipay mobile payments at its stores in China
Apple brings Alibaba-linked payment system into China stores amid market push — Reuters — “The tie-up will make Alipay, run by Alibaba affiliate Ant Financial, the first third-party mobile payment system to be accepted at any physical Apple store worldwide… The Cupertino-based firm will accept Alipay payment across its 41 brick-and-mortar retail stores in China.”
Chinese mobile payment platforms are now used by 527m people
China’s mobile payment users hit 527 million in 2017 — ECNS — “China had a total of 527m mobile payment users at the end of last year, up by 57.8m from a year before… WeChat Pay, one of China’s major mobile payment service providers, attracted over 800m validated users by September 2017. The number of monthly offline payments was 280% higher than that from a year ago… Alipay, the online payment platform under ecommerce giant Alibaba, launched in 36 overseas destinations, benefiting hundreds of thousands of merchants. Overseas transactions surged by 306% in the last year when compared with 2016.”
Mobile payments gain ground in China’s 600,000 villages
China’s village people fast to adopt mobile payments — South China Morning Post — “The mainland market for mobile payment transactions, which reached US$5.5tn in 2016, is poised for further expansion as many consumers and businesses go cashless in more than 600,000 villages across the country… These villages are administratively categorised below townships, counties, cities and provinces.”
China’s central bank sets out digital currency plans
PBOC official pushes for centralized state digital currency — Coindesk — “Unlike most cryptocurrencies, the CBDC [Central Bank Digital Currency] might not operate via a peer-to-peer mechanism, which brings the key features of anonymity and untraceability… Transactions using CBDC will be visible to the central bank, which would function as a third party to bring oversight on potential money laundering and illegal financing.”
UnionPay: NFC mobile payment volumes are ‘growing quickly’ in China
Apple Pay growing fast but still bit player in China: UnionPay — Caixin — “Two years after their launch in China, a group of third-party mobile payment services led by global giant Apple Inc make up only a small fraction of contactless payments in the country, but the number is growing quickly… About 20% of UnionPay’s 94tn yuan (US$14.2tn) in annual transaction volume now comes from near field communication (NFC) technology payments.”
Tencent opens up WeChat Pay to overseas credit card holders
WeChat Pay now allows users to bind overseas credit cards — Technode — “Expats living in China and residents of Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan — places where WeChat is ambitiously expanding its user base — can now bind and activate WeChat Pay accounts with credit card services provided by MasterCard, Visa, and JCB… This is the first time users are able to use WeChat Pay without having a Chinese bank account or credit card.”
WeChat opens unmanned store in Shanghai
WeChat opens its first unmanned store in Shanghai — ECNS — “Shoppers need to scan a QR code with their WeChat app to enter the store. Sensors at the exit detect the shopper’s selections and automatically charge their WeChat wallet when they go through a ‘payment door’… WeChat payment industry operations director Bai Zhenjie said it takes less than 0.1 seconds for a customer to pay a bill. He added that facial and image recognition technology may be adopted in the store in the future.”
Six in ten Chinese consumers have experienced a mobile payments security threat
Quick take: Mobile payment fraud rises in China, report finds — Caixin — “A China UnionPay survey of 105,000 people found that 60% had been exposed to some kind of mobile payment security threat, including information leaks, fraud or malicious attacks… Nearly 30% of users reporting mobile payment fraud said QR codes were involved, up from 15% last year.”
Shanghai Metro installs QR code readers at ticketing gates
Shanghai Metro to accept mobile-app payments — Caixin — “QR code-readers are being installed in all 389 metro stations in the city, which will allow passengers to use an app developed by metro operator Shanghai Shentong Metro Group. The app – dubbed ‘Metro daduhui’ – will connect to the payments systems of Alipay and China UnionPay.”
One in five Brits to make mobile payments in stores this year
UK: Mobile payments still looking to grab a foothold — eMarketer — “Just over 22% of UK smartphone users will use a phone to pay for goods and services at the point of sale (POS) in 2018… China has the largest mobile proximity payments market in the world, with 77.5% of smartphone users doing so this year. Within Europe, the UK’s smartphone penetration rate will rank behind Norway (23.3%), Sweden (33.8%) and Denmark (38.9%) in 2018.”
Chinese government teams up with WeChat to offer digital social security cards
China’s social security system turns to WeChat for electronic ID — South China Morning Post — “Government trials in 26 cities will have Tencent’s WeChat replace traditional state-issued social security cards with digital version tied to users’ accounts… The WeChat-based electronic social security cards will enable users to provide their identification, status, payment records and other relevant information to official online inquiries about benefits and insurance coverage.”
Alipay reports mobile payments adoption stats
Mobile devices handle some 80% of Alipay’s online payments in 2017 — ECNS — “New data from Alipay show 82% of the transactions on its platform in 2017 were made through mobile devices, mostly smart phones. This ratio is said to be an all-time high… There were 520m Alipay users in China, or around 37% of the country’s population, in 2017… More than 40m small retailers across China, according to Alipay, established their own quick response codes in 2017… Bus and subway networks in more than 30 Chinese cities began allowing passengers to pay fares via Alipay through 2017.”
Honda to let drivers use Alipay to make payments from cars
Honda to team up with Alibaba in connected cars — Nikkei Asian Review — “The Japanese automaker will work with the Chinese e-retailing titan’s AutoNavi business. They plan to develop a service that lets drivers make reservations using AutoNavi maps and make payments via Alibaba’s online platform Alipay. Decisions will be made soon on when to make the service available on which vehicles.”
China’s central bank to begin testing QR code payments registration and settlement regulations from April
China’s central bank to standardize QR code payment — Xinhua — “The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) announced plans Wednesday to regulate QR code payment to contain risks arising from the popular service. Payment institutions must obtain proper permits to offer barcode-based payment services, according to a document released by the PBOC. Both banks and non-banking payment institutions must channel cross-bank transactions involving barcodes through the clearing system of the PBOC or other legal clearing houses… The standards will be put into trial use from April.”
Guangzhou pilot lets consumers use WeChat to create an official digital ID
WeChat poised to become China’s official electronic ID system — South China Morning Post — “The WeChat ID programme was co-developed by the research institute of the Ministry of Public Security and Tencent’s WeChat team, and supported by various banks and several other government departments. The project is expected to help deter online identity theft, as facial recognition technology is used to verify applicants before their virtual ID cards get authorised. Those verified will be able to use their WeChat ID to register in hotels and apply for government services without the need of bringing their physical ID cards.”
China’s central bank caps static QR code transactions at US$76
China begins regulating QR code payments — The Verge — “The regulations will initially cap payments by traditional QR codes to 500 yuan, or about US$76. When additional security measures are applied, the cap can raise to 5,000 yuan, or around U$765. At an even higher security level, banks and payment processors are given discretion over the cap.”
Central bank requires Chinese mobile payments providers to set aside customers’ prepaid funds
China’s central bank to raise reserve funds ratio of third-party payment firms to 50% — Reuters — “China’s central bank said it will gradually raise the reserve funds ratio of third-party payment firms to 50% by April 2018 from a current rate of 20%, as it continues to ramp up regulation of the industry… It will eventually ban non-bank payment firms from making any private investments with money deposited by users, which would see the reserve rate at some point increased to 100%.”
JD.com to deliver online orders direct to Chinese consumers’ cars
JD.com, electric car maker Nio partner on ecommerce delivery-to-vehicle service — Marbridge Daily — “JD.com’s self-operated logistics service JD Logistics and Nio are in the process of connecting their systems so that consumers will be able to select ‘delivery to vehicle’ when purchasing goods through JD.com. Using the vehicle’s location, an authorized delivery agent will deliver the package within a given time window to the recipient’s trunk, which will be accessed via keyless entry.”