China's Mobile Payment Services Stands for Huge Potential: Report

China currently has an estimated market of 100 million users of remote payment and this mobile payment services market segment is currently the focus of multiple competing companies and alternative technologies.

 

In a survey and market research titled, “Remote Payment Will Lead China’s Mobile Payment Market, Local Payment Will Follow,” In-Stat projected the number of users of remote payment will double to 200 million by the end of 2013, with transaction values approaching $14 billion, and the number of local payment users will expand from trial stages to represent nearly 60 million users and approach $4 billion.

 

The two main types of mobile payment services in China are local payment services and remote payment services. Research analysts at the firm said that local payment and bank account-based remote payment services are still in their nascent stages, while non-bank account-based remote payment services form the bulk of China's mobile payment services market.

 

In-Stat (News - Alert) claimed that because both SIM , or subscriber identity module, card-based payment solutions and non-SIM card-based NFC, which stands for near field communications, payment solutions remain in the trial stages, the banking and transportation sectors, mobile phone makers and mobile telecom operators are pushing for different alternatives.

 

The In-Stat survey also found that: SIM cards with RF SIM solutions customized by China Mobile (News - Alert) are expected to be launched in mid 2010, and the company is currently working to develop retail partners and deploy point of sales devices; over half of respondents are interested in using their mobile phones as a payment tool; and, more than 36 percent of respondents prefer to use payment platforms funded by banks, indicating that the banking sector is the most trusted of all sectors by Chinese consumers.

 

Company officials claimed that their research effort has forecasted China’s mobile payment users, China’s mobile payment market transaction value, segmentation of local payment and remote payment, payment platform provider revenue and gives the analysis of business models, potential market structures, and strategies among telecom operators and mobile payment platform providers. 

 

An analysis firm recently released two market research studies titled, “Mobile Coupons: Strategies & Forecasts 2008-2013” and “Mobile Commerce: Payments, Ticketing and Banking 2008-2013,” which found that cash conserving mobile coupons – so called m-coupons – will increase by 30 percent over the next two years.

 

The prime inter linked reasons for driving upward the demand for m-coupons are that shoppers want to make purchases for the lowest price possible to protect savings and are generally wary and apprehensive about the current recession, and sales staff, retail outlets and merchants simply have to sell commodities and attract consumers any which way they can for sustenance.

In addition, m-coupons can be tailored to suit particular tastes and purchasing patterns for different customer segments to intelligently leverage potential spending and this approach is in direct contrast to the old plain and simple approach in which every customer got every coupon.

 

The firm estimated that more than 100 million mobile users will be using m-Coupons all across the globe with pronounced usage in North America, Western Europe, the Far East and China, and cautioned that the stumbling blocks m-Coupons to really take off could be lack of fully fledged development of point of sale terminals to accept near field communication payments.

 

In addition to m-coupons, mobiles are generally all set to replace the conventional wallet and all its contents such as credit, debit, membership and other transaction plastic cards.