The emergence of payment services through mobile phones has put
a virtual withdrawal machine in consumers' hands, enabling 8
million mobile users in China to buy insurance or book tickets with
a flick of their fingers.
Promising consumers "safe and convenient payment at any place at
any time," China UnionPay, a central bank arm that provides a
nationwide electronic payment network, developed this service,
which connects users' bank accounts with their mobile phone
numbers.
Nearly 8 billion yuan worth of payments was transacted in this
way in the first 10 months of the year as the service gradually
expanded to 21 provinces and cities across the country.
Consumers found they could save the trouble of queuing
impatiently at the banks. Instead, they can send instructions
through text messages to pay for anything, from phone services to
insurance.
Although only 8 million customers use the service, a small
number compared with the total number of mobile phone users in
China, UnionPay is confident that the service will "run in the fast
lane" as more Chinese who used to carry cash around embrace
diversified payment methods.
On Monday, commercial banks started to offer cross-bank
services. Chinese customers can now make deposits and cash
withdrawals at different banks, regardless of where they keep their
accounts.
At the same time, more services based on the ubiquity of mobile
phones are being developed. China Mobile recently joined with
leading securities firms and financial newspapers to launch a new
service that provides key information on capital markets to
subscribers.
(Xinhua News Agency November 23, 2007)
