With the rise of smartphone penetration and 4G networks, mobile payment in China has recorded exponential growth both in terms of transaction value and the sectors covered. The latest statistics from the People’s Bank of China shed some light on the booming industry in the last year.
In 2014, the central bank processed over 4.52 billion mobile payment transactions, up 170.25% from 1.67 billion in 2013. Transaction volume surged 134.30% year-over-year to RMB22.59 trillion (US$3.61 trillion), from RMB9.64 trillion in 2013.
After skyrocketing increases in the past few years, m-payment is entering a period of stable growth, with the growth rate for both the number of transactions and transaction volume declining from 212.86% and 317.56% in 2013.
The country’s e-payment business recorded 33.33 billion transactions worth RMB1,404 trillion, up 29.28% and 30.65% respectively from a year earlier.
Amongst all three e-payment methods recorded by the central bank last year, mobile payment recorded the fastest rate of growth last year. In addition to mobile payment, the turnover of online payment climbed 29.72% to RMB1,376 trillion, while phone payment increased 27.41% to RMB6.04 trillion over the same period.
The report added that China recorded a turnover of RMB1,817 trillion from 62.75 billion non-cash settlements last year, up 13.05% and 25.11% respectively.
It is worth noting that the growth rate for non-cash transaction numbers increased by 3.19% while that for transaction volume declined 11.92%, indicating an increase in micropayments.
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Editing by Mike Cormack (@bucketoftongues)