The use of mobile payments is set to explode in China, according to a new analyst report.
Celent, a financial services technology analyst company, predicts that the number of mobile payments users will grow by 48% annually until reaching 410 million by 2013, making it the world’s largest mobile payments market.
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Mobile Payments in China: Emergence of a Mega-Market – Celent report
One touch commerce Banks and retailers are throwing their weight behind contactless payments systems
The company draws a distinction between two kinds of mobile payment: remote payments using mobile phones, and contactless payment systems where customers use a card or phone to make a payment in a shop. Both of these are growing in popularity, Celent said.
The growing adoption reflects successful partnerships between Chinese banks and telecommunications operators, it explained. “Mobile operators and third party payment companies are … strengthening their cooperation with the banking industry for increased success,” said analyst Hua Zhang.
Earlier this month, online payments provider PayPal said that one million people in the UK had used its mobile service.
The same week, Barclaycard said that one million transactions have taken place using its contactless payment technology since it was launched in the UK in 2007. There has been a 217% increase in contactless payments on a monthly basis since January 2010, it said.
