Last night, it took me only 15 minutes to apply and pay for my tourist visa to Cambodia using their e-Visa online platform. After I finished, I felt a bit bewildered and didn’t know what to do with myself next - there has to be a next step, or at least an error to attend to, right?! Perhaps I have been living in China for too long but the Cambodia e-Visa application process and subsequent payment (using my U.S. MasterCard via PayPal) was so seamless and simple that I was in disbelief. After having been jolted back into the realization that payments outside of China can just be THAT convenient, I felt inclined to emphasize in a blog entry just how far the China payments market has to grow.
My point is not to knock on Chinese third-party payment companies, but is to emphasize the stark difference between the environment for payments in China versus that of most Western countries. While my list is long, I will describe three of the biggest differences below:
David Wolf of the Silicon Hutong blog recently wrote about the International Air Transport Association’s (IATA) June 1, 2008 deadline for airlines worldwide to completely switch from paper tickets to electronic tickets. According to David, as soon as early next year, China will lead the world in e-ticketing and the switch over to e-tickets will save Chinese airlines up to $9 per ticket issued. Based on 2006 figures, David estimates that China Eastern Airlines would save as much as $315 million with a complete switchover to e-tickets.
Third-party payment provider Chinapay has a newly revamped website highlighting its English slogan: "Chinapay - the Pacemaker of E-Payment". We were surprised at the news, since we had not heard of any serious health problems, aside from normal growing pains. China’s electronic payments sector is in its infancy, but its vital signs are strong, and the range of new payment technologies is only improving the circulation of goods and currency throughout the country. We wouldn’t normally advise such an invasive procedure on such a young patient, but with the excellent technology available these days, we foresee a long and healthy life ahead.
Tang Bin, Yeepay’s CEO, has recently given an interview for Chinese portal eNet. Yeepay is one of China’s leading third-party payment providers, operating telephone, mobile, and online payment platforms. In the interview - The direction of electronic payment, available in Chinese only, Tang Bin talks about Yeepay’s performance in the market and about the state of China’s third-party payment industry as a whole. In this interview Tang Bin made a few interesting points, some of the key ones are summarized below.
The Chinese e-payment industry is 10 years lagging behind the USA, mainly due to China’s credit system and financial infrastructure which are not yet developed.
