Mobile payments taking off in China

Shopping carnivals initiated by Chinese e-tailers are generating massive sales. China’s famous Cyber Monday (11 November) registered record sales of USD10 billion within 24 hours in 2014. Has China entered the age of digital payments? Spire Research and Consulting shared its insights, published on the US Consumer Electronics Association’s blog.

Chinese e-commerce giants including Alibaba Group and JD.com offer huge discounts during such e-commerce shopping carnivals to propagate digital payment technology, to the massive acclaim of Chinese consumers.

As China’s e-commerce market expands, third-party payment platforms lead the way. This space is dominated by Alipay (Alibaba), UnionPay, 99Bill and Tenpay (Tencent). The potential is evident from Alipay’s hike in transaction value to USD9 billion in 2014 in comparison to USD8 million in 2009.

At the same time, payments are not only limited to the e-commerce realm but include mobile payments as well. These include E-wallet, repayments (credit card and loan), electronic funds transfer, utilities (water, TV, electricity and so forth), insurance, as well as charitable donations, to name a few.

Some innovative approaches to mobile payments are Alipay’s AA payment which allows the splitting of a single bill amount, as going Dutch in China is quite common. It helps a user create an Alipay group and sends notifications to other payers (in group) for the total amount to be collected. Tencent’s Tenpay launched a similar app by adding a mobile wallet feature to its popular WeChat mobile messenger – keeping in view its wide user base of 500 million in mainland China and 100 million overseas users.

On the other hand, mobile payments are being pushed into the brick and mortar channels through shopping carnivals such as the ‘Double 12 (December 12)’ with heavy discounts given to customers for purchases via mobile payments in physical retail outlets.

The good news is that this concept is working wonders – more than 20,000 stores from over 100 retail chains including FamilyMart and MerryMart were part of the ‘Double 12’ in 2014. This carnival became a magnet for thousands of post-60 and post-70 Chinese nationals trying their hand at this technology.

There can be little doubt that mobile payment is taking off in China.

https://www.spireresearch.com/newsroom/media/mobile-payments-taking-off-in-china/

Comments

Korea needs to focus on developing service robots

The Korean robotics industry grew by 60% a year between 2005 and 2011. Korea has a strong position in industrial robots. Now, the government’s focus should now be on developing service robots to sustain growth. Spire Research and Consulting shared its insights, published on the Business Korea news portal. Korea’s industrial robot sector is larger than any country’s, except for Japan, China and the U.S. However, the service robot sector is emerging as a new growth hotbed, thanks to the accelerated use of artificial intelligence. However, Korea does not have any companies that specialize in the development of service robots. It will take time to further develop Korea’s service robotics technology which is where the government and Korean enterprises need to step in and focus so as to claim early global leadership. https://www.spireresearch.com/newsroom/media/korea-needs-to-focus-on-developing-service-robots/

Hong Kong maintains its global financial center tag

After 20 years of becoming an independent judiciary, does Hong Kong continue to remain a financial and business hub? Will this impact businesses in Singapore? Leon Perera, CEO of Spire Research and Consulting shared his insights in The Business Times – Views from the Top section on 10 July 2017 on Hong Kong’s economic climate and its impact on businesses in Singapore. Hong Kong continues to attract investors due to many factors such as a high- quality civil service, economic linkages to China’s Pearl River Delta economy as well as geographic proximity to the economic giants of Korea, Japan and China. Perera opined that despite economic and political uncertainties as well as what some perceive as political encroachment from Beijing, Hong Kong will remain an important business hub for the foreseeable future. Hong Kong both complements and competes with Singapore. Many multinational corporations (MNCs) use both cities as Asia-Pacific regional headquarters (RHQs). Shanghai ...

Spire joins list of sponsors for Phoenix Global Chamber

The Phoenix Global Chamber aims to grow the number of people successfully engaged with cross-border trade and investment. With over 20,000 followers on its list, it strives to advance companies, careers as well as communities. Spire Research and Consulting is proud to announce its association with the Global Chamber of Phoenix as a sponsor. The Global Chamber of Phoenix, Arizona further engages leaders, companies and communities to facilitate global business growth and improve cross-border understanding. It aims to bring together like-minded people with the common mission of growing business across borders. As a sponsor, Spire will have the privilege of appearing in banner ads across the Chamber’s website, featured in regular e-newsletters and have access to speaker opportunities. Spire is proud of this new association and hopes to have the privilege of working with more Phoenix-based organizations to develop and execute their strategies in global emerging markets. This a...

Mobile banking poised to take off in Vietnam’s rural areas

Vietnam’s rural population is still struggling with access to basic financial services. With the high mobile penetration rate, can mobile phones be a platform to address their needs? Yap Far Loon, Business Development Director, Telecommunications at Spire Research and Consulting, shared his insights on the untapped potential for mobile financial services to serve Vietnam’s rural population in The Saigon Times Daily. According to a Spire report, an astounding 60 million people in Vietnam do not have access to basic financial services. Only 22% of the population – predominantly those residing in urban areas – have access to financial services. Why are the rural areas being left out? Yap opined that high costs are the main reason. For instance, the cost of installation, maintenance, operation and location rental for Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) alone exceeds VND300 million annually. Moreover, as rural transaction volumes are low, economies of scale are limited, making it even ...

The air purifying power of 500 trees Taking green buildings to the next level, an eco-friendly building is now visible in the posh area of West SoHo in Manhattan, New York. The first of its kind luxury building has 25 storeys with air purification mechanisms. The façade is painted with Pureti, a water-based treatment that transforms contaminants in the air into oxidizing agents. This treatment purifies the air like 500 trees, removing the equivalent of 2,000 cars from the roads for an entire year. The technology is soon to be used on buildings across Turkey, Argentina and Spain. Can green technology ensure all buildings ‘breathe’ air in the future? Read here more:https://www.spireresearch.com/newsroom/spirethoughts/the-air-purifying-power-of-500-trees/

The Knowledge to Decide

Search This Blog