The latest from Maverick China

Digital Signage World Asia 2012 - Singapore, April 25-27, 2012

Almeric Chew — 2012-04-25T07:00:00+00:00

Maverick China Research will serve as a Media Partner for the upcoming Near Field Communication World Asia 2012 conference on April 25-27, 2012 in Singapore. For more information, click on the banner below.

Mobile Payments and NFC World Summit 2012 - Hong Kong, April 19-20, 2012

Grace Chia — 2012-04-12T21:44:00+00:00

Maverick China Research will serve as a Media Partner for the upcoming Mobile Payments and NFC World Summit 2012 conference on April 19-20, 2012 in Hong Kong. Reference Maverick China by using priority code MCR4/12 and get 15% off regular rate! For more information, click on the banner below.

CARTES in Asia Exhibition and Conference 2012 - Hong Kong, March 28-29, 2012

Grace Chia — 2012-03-28T22:58:00+00:00

Maverick China Research will serve as a Media Partner for the upcoming CARTES in Asia Exhibition and Conference 2012 on March 28-29, 2012 in Hong Kong. Reference Maverick China by using priority code VIPCIA12 and get 15% off regular rate! For more information, click on the banner below.

Call for Survey Participants / 寻求受访者: Online Payment and e-Commerce in China

Dave Carini — 2012-02-02T20:40:00+00:00

Maverick China Research is looking for e-commerce professionals in China to participate in interviews on e-commerce and online payment in China. In exchange for your participation in the study, we will provide you with a summary of our findings. (We conducted a similar survey in 2009; click here for more information.) We are looking for companies that receive most or all of their revenue through e-commerce. Interviewees should be at management level or above and be able to comment on the company's various payment channels, its partnerships with payment providers and processors, and its long-term payment strategy.

If you are interested in participating in the survey, please contact my colleague Rosie Gao at rosie.gao@maverickchina.com.

Maverick China Research 现在正在寻求在中国从事电子商务的专业人士参与一项关于电子商务和在线支付的市场调查。作为对参与者的回报，我们将免费赠送此次合作项目的调查结果。（这里有于2009年做的调查结果：点击此处获得更多信息。）对于项目参与者，您的公司应该以电子商务为主要的业务方式，并且对于公司支付的各种渠道、付款服务供应商和付款过程，以及对于长期的支付前景都较为了解。

如果您对我们的调查项目感兴趣，请联系研究员高瑞：rosie.gao@maverickchina.com.

Mobile Money APAC Conference and Expo - Singapore, January 30 - February 2, 2012

Grace Chia — 2012-01-30T17:58:00+00:00

Maverick China Research will serve as a Media Partner for the upcoming Mobile Money APAC Conference and Expo on 30 January – 2 February, 2012 in Singapore. Reference Maverick China by using priority code MMAPAC14 and get 10% off regular rate! For more information, click on the banner below.

Another Look at Taxi e-Payments in Beijing and Shanghai

Grace Chia — 2012-01-29T23:41:00+00:00

Beijing taxi drivers, like their counterparts around the world, are known for being willing to talk about anything and everything. But one thing you won't hear them say, at least not yet, is “用卡还是现金？” ("Will you be paying by cash or card?")

It's a question I heard often on a recent trip to Shanghai over the Chinese New Year holiday -- in fact, I was asked in every taxi I took. The card in question is the Shanghai Public Transportation Card (SPTC), the contactless payment card used in subways, buses, taxis, and other methods of public transport. One driver I spoke to in Shanghai estimated that 20 percent of his passengers paid with the SPTC. He wasn't sure why card payments were so popular but speculated that it was partly due to the popularity of the SPTC as a gift. Like any gift card, recipients tend to spend it more freely then they would their own cash -- in this case, splurging on a taxi instead of a bus or subway.

The gift card theory, while interesting, is probably a minor factor at best. Here in Beijing the Yikatong card serves a similar purpose as the SPTC, but while many Beijing taxis can accept Yikatong payments, I've never heard a driver here actually suggest that I pay with one. Last year one of my colleagues wrote about the difficulties of using Yikatong for taxi fares in Beijing and targeted an inconvenient reimbursement system for drivers as perhaps the greatest obstacle. From what I've seen, little progress has been made on that front. And as long as drivers keep up their tacit agreement to discourage Yikatong use, it's going to be cash payments as usual in Beijing's taxis.

Would a "Mobile Direct Bank" Work in China?

Grace Chia — 2012-01-12T22:34:00+00:00

At the Financial Channels and Payment Innovation China 2011 event in Beijing on December 8, one of the more interesting presentations was given by Mr. Makoto Shibata from Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ Bank. Mr. Shibata talked about Jibun Bank, a venture launched in 2008 between his bank and KDDI, Japan's second largest mobile operator. With most banks viewing mobile banking as simply an add-on to their core services, Jibun Bank has taken the opposite strategy and made m-banking its primary service. Mr. Shibata argued that mobile banking is best suited to the younger generation, which is comfortable with mobile technology and does not want to stand in line at a branch to conduct simple transactions. He also pointed out that many young people do not have computer access at home (though they would at work), but almost all have mobile phones.

Maverick China's Boaz Rottenberg elected Vice Chairman of Ischam China

Grace Chia — 2012-01-10T08:00:00+00:00

Maverick China Managing Director Boaz Rottenberg was recently elected to the Board of Directors of the Israel Chamber of Commerce in China where he will be serving as the Vice Chairman of the board. The Maverick Team congratulates Boaz and wishes him and the chamber a good year ahead.

China Issues Third Batch of Third-Party Payment Licenses on Final Day of 2011

Grace Chia — 2012-01-03T20:02:00+00:00

On December 31, 2011 the People's Bank of China released a third batch of third-party payment licenses (Chinese language article). Sixty-one companies received licenses, bringing the total number of licensed third-party payment providers in China to 101.

All three of China's telecom carriers -- China Mobile, China Unicom, and China Telecom -- received licenses. Most companies were awarded licenses for the first time, though several previous licensees recieved additional licenses during the latest round.

The announcement came as somewhat of a surprise, though there were rumors earlier in December that another batch of licenses was coming out. On the PBOC website (Chinese), the licenses are listed as being issued on December 22.

To learn more about about mobile payment in China, including profiles of all m-payment licensees, check out our latest report, Mobile Payment in China 2011-2012 Edition. (Updates coming soon will include all of the newest m-payment license recipients.)

China Unicom's WO+ app platform unveiled

Grace Chia — 2011-12-12T17:54:00+00:00

On December 9, I attended the China Unicom Mobile Internet Industry Summit 2011 here in Beijing. The event was a showcase for WO+, China Unicom's new platform for developers to host their mobile apps. Actually, WO+ is much more than that; Calvin Smith has written a thorough analysis of it over at the Mobisights blog. During the panel discussions on the mobile internet, angel investor Yang Ning made an interesting point about the many app stores and platforms popping up in China. Mr. Yang argued such platforms should be "evolved products" and should not start out trying to be app platform. He advised companies to focus at first on building up a user base by developing applications with a social networking aspect. For this reason he thinks that Ravio's Angry Birds still hasn't reached its full potential.

On a sidenote, it was amusing to see Sina Weibo and Tencent Weibo screens placed opposite each other during this conference, in an imitating of the real-world face-off between China's two microblogging leaders.