China Payments Research
Will China's crackdown on illegal offshore money transfer matter?
As China's economy slows and people push to move their money abroad for better returns, the government is now trying its best to keep money at home. The PBOC has estimated that outflows of the China’s foreign reserve attributed to illegal underground banks amounted to about 800 billion yuan ($125 billion) from April to October this year. Chinese police launched a series of crackdown on underground banking and illegal foreign-exchange network to continue the anti-corruption campaign. But will it matter? Can they actually stem the flow of money out?
Swatch moves into payment-enabled smartwatches with a NFC watch
Earlier this week at The Swatch Art Peace Hotel on the Shanghai Bund, Swatch launched a new smartwatch called the Swatch Bellamy. The Swiss based company announced that it is teaming up with China UnionPay and the Bank of Communications to allow the device to be used for mobile payments at any UnionPay POS as it seems like the Bellamy is NFC-enabled.
Tencent expands WeChat payment services overseas to capitalise on the growing mobile payments industry
As mobile payments become increasingly abundant among global transactions and an increasing preference for mobile payments amongst Chinese consumers continues to develop both in China and overseas, it was only a matter of time for which mobile payment platform providers would see the opportunity to capitalize on the growing overseas demand for mobile payments.
Alibaba’s Strategic Investments into Beidou Satellite Navigation System - China’s Domestic Answer to GPS
Finance, cinema, bricks-and-mortar and soccer - what could be next for Alibaba? The e-commerce giant has been poised to undertake a new venture with the Chinese state owned arms, vehicle and machinery producer China North Industries Group Corp, or Norinco.
Alibaba’s strategy to integrate brick-and-mortar stores into its business model has become more prominent over the coming weeks when it was announced on 10th August that it would be investing $4.6bn (19.99% stake) in the Chinese electronics retailer - Suning Commerce Group Co Ltd.
Third party online payment services in China have disrupted the traditional financial industry, and enabled a new era of Internet finance lead by Alibaba group. To regulate and set benchmarks for this booming industry, the “Internet Finance Guidelines” was issued last month to curb potential risks, ensure competition, and protect information security and the legitimate rights of investors.
In July 2015 the Ping An Group announced the merger of 1qianbao, its payment solution and Wanlitong Loyalty Points Program. The merger came as a surprise for many employees of the payment division, as the service was successfully growing over the year and a half since the launch.
Alibaba in partnership with Luxembourg Consulate in Shanghai to issue credit-based visas
The versatile internet powerhouse Alibaba group is now sitting on the goldmine of big data and is innovatively monetizing it through internet finance. This time Alibaba Group's online payment system Sesame Credit applies the cutting edge big data-based credit rating system in partnership with Luxembourg's Consulate General in Shanghai for a launch of a credit-based visa application service.
Who will be the Square of China?
Since its launch 3 years ago, popular third party POS payment provdier Square has gained a respectable level of global adoption. Clients have access to 130 currencies in four languages worldwide. Despite the great success, we haven’t seen any presence of Square in China.
China's taxi / ride hailing app sector is heating up again as internet giant backed Didi and KuaiDi Dache are about to launch 1 billion RMB subsidy for premium cars coupon. Not to be outdone, competitor Yidao teamed up with Baidu. The country's leading search engine allows Yidao to embed its chauffeured car service in its map app.
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The US online payment service provider PayPal has big plans for helping merchants and customers worldwide. Earlier this week, it has announced his partnership with the most popular payment card in China UnionPay to provide Chinese cross-border shoppers with an easier way to complete their transactions via UnionPay Online payments. The ability to make purchases using UnionPay cards has been one of the most requested features from Chinese customers.
Alipay Wallet moves further into public services
Alipay has already gotten into transport cards, bill payments and hospitals in China, now it's focused on public services again with local government partnerships.
Rumors abound that Apple has finally reached an agreement with China UnionPay and is rolling out the China version of Apple Pay in April. According to a Bank of China-related Weibo post, April 15th is the day of official announcement and April 28th will be launch day. The timing is close to what was expected, even though there were reports that negotiations were going less smoothly than predicted.
China International Payment System - What to Expect?
News is that the China International Payment System (CIPS) is ready and selected 20 banks are about to start testing, among which seven are subsidiaries of foreign banks. The new system was developed by PBoC and aims to be a significant improvement on the current way companies make cross-border RMB payments.