What's New in Payments

Chinese banks and carriers to pilot central bank digital currency

China’s central bank likely to pilot digital currency in cities of Shenzhen and Suzhou — Coindesk — “The People’s Bank of China is said to be preparing to launch pilots for its digital currency in at least two major cities. The tests are likely to include the participation of state-owned partners. These comprise the ‘Big Four’ commercial banks — the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Bank of China, China Construction Bank and the Agricultural Bank of China — and three telcos: China Telecom, China Mobile and China Unicom.”





NFC World

Strategy Analytics lowers NFC payments forecast

Strategy Analytics

Strategy Analytics has “marginally lowered” its outlook for NFC mobile payments “to reflect the slow pace at which operators are pushing NFC payments service, limited NFC payment deployments by OEMs, and the continued slow adoption of contactless payments by retailers.”... More






NFC World

China Mobile and China UnionPay launch NFC payments service

BEIJING: People find out more about the new payments network. Pic: Xinhua/Li Xin

China Mobile, the world’s largest mobile network operator, and Chinese bank card association China UnionPay have announced that their NFC payments service is now live in more than fourteen Chinese cities, including Shanghai, Beijing and Guangzhou — and eight banks have signed up to make use of the partners’ platform... More






NFC World

Orange and China Mobile sign NFC development deal

Orange and China Mobile

“By working together with China Mobile, we hope to show that the development of a SIM-card based approach using recognized standards will be a key factor in winning over consumer confidence as NFC services become more and more prevalent over the coming years,” says Orange’s Thierry Millet. More