According to the latest official figures from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the 10-month total surpassed the USD 9.27 trillion in mobile payment transactions on the mainland during the whole of 2016.
China’s latest record exceeded the estimated USD 49.3 billion in total mobile payment transactions in the US in 2017, according to data from eMarketer.
China’s mobile payments boom has been powered by the fast adoption of online retail, financial and on-demand services, such as ride-sharing activities, in the world’s largest Internet and smartphone market.
Mobile payment apps, such as WeChat Pay and Alipay, have enabled consumers, including those in rural areas, to go from cash to smartphone, leapfrogging the use of credit cards and cheques.
WeChat Pay, which is operated by Tencent Holdings, and Alipay, the online payments platform of Alibaba Group Holding affiliate Ant Financial Services, accounted for 93% of China’s mobile payments market, according to data from Analysys International.
The number of transactions made through non-banking mobile apps from 2013 to 2016 increased from 3.8 billion to more than 97 billion, according to data from the Payment and Clearing Association of China.
Research firm eMarketer recently estimated that more than 61% of global mobile payment users in 2018 will be located in China.
By 2021, there will be 79.3% of smartphone users in China, according to eMarketer. By comparison, the US will have 23% of smartphone users and Germany will have 15% of smartphone users.
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