Recently, mobile payment and mobile commerce pundnits worldwide added two industry giants to their list of supporters - Citibank and Amazon.com.
Citibank announced a partnership with m-payment upstart, Obopay , to offer a mobile P2P (person-to-person) payment service. According to their press release , the trial is set to begin this summer and will be made available to checking account holders in the US. This is pretty big news for m-payments m-commerce supporters as one of the largest banks in the world and one of the largest m-payment startups are teaming up. Citibank may have enough coverage in the US to jumpstart the industry as a whole, in the US at least, and perhaps later in other countries.
Amazon.com, has recently launched its "TextBuyIt " service which allows its customers to shop on items listed on its website via SMS. The service is available to all Amazon Payment users who have mobile accounts with one of nine mobile operators. Along with its "TextPayMe " service, which offers mobile P2P transfer, Amazon.com is showing that it is now only leading the way with internet-based e-commerce, they are also positioning themselves to be a major player in the developing mobile commerce sphere.
In China, this news would be comparable to ICBC and Taobao.com announcing their commitment to mobile payments and mobile commerce services. Given the current flux in the market with unclear government regulations, the lack of competition in the mobile space, and a overall emphasis on online payments and online commerce instead, it seems that we are at least a few years away for any similar types of movement in China's mobile payments and mobile commerce market.
For further analysis on the current state of mobile payments in China, check out the presentation I recently gave at a mobile payments forum in Beijing.
As recently reported by Chinatechnews.com , the Chinese central government will finally be re-vamping their telecoms supervisory bureau, the Ministry of Information Industry (or MII), in the second quarter of this year. While preliminary indications are not very clear as to the exact changes regarding the bureau's governing jurisdiction over China's telecoms and internet markets, many of us following the TMT industry will surely be keeping a close watch on this development.
In recent years, China's outdated organization of its industry-specific regulatory bodies have resulted in confusion and power struggles concerning the issues of convergence in telecoms, media, internet, and banking industries in China. A prime example is the on-going battle between the MII and SARFT (State Administration of Radio, Film, and Television) regarding IPTV and DTV services in China, where telecoms and broadcast television converge.
If the Chinese central government can clarify their stance and jurisdiction regarding these coverging industries, that would be great news for all those involved in developing the industry. Even so, we certainly won't be holding our collective breaths for the "new MII" to bring a resolution to these issues regarding industry convergence.
I am not sure if this is true or not, or whether there is enough demand for QQ services on the Mac. I would like to hope, however, that they can first get QQ to work properly on an English version of Windows XP before starting to work on the MacOS.
Last August we noted the partnership between payment terminal supplier Blue Bamboo and payment provider Kpay/Kuaipay to establish a payment network for Beijing's popular Yikatong contactless transit card (also sometimes called "SuperPass").
Uptake of Yikatong cards in the last several years has been excellent; last September, the authority in charge of Yikatong, the Beijing Municipal Administration & Communications Card Co. Ltd. (BMAC), announced that over 13 million cards had been issued and approximately 15,000 new cards were being issued every single day. As penetration approaches 100% among Beijing's nearly 18 million residents, this growth pace will decline, but we do believe the number of Yikatong cards has already surpassed 15 million to date.
Whatever the exact number is, it's clear just how great the potential is for an Octopus-like network in Beijing. But so far in 2008, only three new merchant partners have been added--Weiduomei bakeries, Jia He Yi Pin Congee, and Jack Hut drink shops--bringing the total number to seventeen. And with new subway lines scheduled to open in time for this summer's Olympics, not to mention a long overdue pay-by-distance system for subway tickets, we expect it to be a while before the merchant network reaches a critical mass and Beijingers start using their Yikatong cards for food and other small purchases. Signing up a well known, heavyweight merchant partner or two--McDonald's, KFC, or supermarket chain Jingkelong, perhaps--wouldn't hurt, either.
We recently made a presentation about mobile payments in China at a forum hosted by our friends at TRP and KPMG. We'd like to offer a special thanks to Peter Lovelock and his team for organizing! A copy of our presentation is available below.
Please feel free to contact us for questions or comments.
