China’s mobile-payments market is expected to grow considerably in the coming years even as concerns remain about security and the lack of cooperation between telecommunication operators and banks, a new report suggests.
The country’s mobile payments will reach 23.5 billion yuan (US$3.7 billion or 2.7 billion euros) by the end of 2013, up from 5.2 billion yuan at the end of this year, predicts Beijing-based research firm Analysys International.
The mobile-payments market will grow as the penetration of smart phones increases and business models improve, Meng Zhang, an analyst with the firm, tells PaymentsSource.
Some 220 million consumers in China conduct mobile payments, but the total could grow considerably with better awareness and easier access to mobile commerce, Zheng adds
China has two types of mobile-payment models–Near Field Communication and remote, which involves payments made using text messages or by reading barcodes at checkouts, Zheng notes.
The growing popularity of 3G networks and 3G-enabled smart phones, better e-commerce and m-commerce models, improved mobile applications, and a more favorable outlook of agency funding for mobile-payments businesses also could help boost China’s mobile-payments market, Zheng says.
However, the technologies behind certain mobile-payment models are immature and their systems unstable, and that could impede growth, Zheng notes.
Also, concerns over security are discouraging some Chinese from using mobile payments, while telcos and banks have been unable to reconcile their individual interests, Zheng adds.
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