Mobile payment is coming, with more future applications being developed.
A few years ago, mobile payment was just a theoretical concept, but now it has rapidly integrated into our daily lives. It is omnipresent. After experiencing rounds of fierce battles such as the popularity of Alipay wallets, WeChat red envelopes, and DiDi taxi subsidies, the competition among internet giants and mobile carriers in the field of mobile payment has become even more intense.
Mobile payment can be roughly divided into three categories according to the payment method: remote payment, proximity payment, and card payment. The entire mobile payment value chain includes mobile operators, payment service providers, application providers, device providers, system integrators, merchants, and end users.
Although mobile payment is convenient and fast, a report from 2015 showed the existence of a "small city effect" in mobile payments. Alipay data shows that mobile payments in western regions lead the country. In 2014, in terms of the proportion of mobile payment transactions in each province, Tibet, Shaanxi, Ningxia, and Inner Mongolia monopolized the top four positions. In contrast, Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangdong ranked only 29th, 24th, and 27th among the 34 provincial-level administrative regions in the country. This is different from what we usually think. Despite the convenience of mobile payments in our daily lives, half of the users still do not use mobile payments. What are the concerns of users who do not use mobile payments? Surveys show that among the respondents who do not use mobile payments, as many as 71.7% of mobile internet users are worried about security issues such as funds and information. In addition to security issues, users are also concerned about mobile phones not supporting mobile payment functions, complex payment processes, unstable systems, limited payment application scenarios, and inconvenience.
An industry insider analyzed, "If we say that in terms of security, convenience, and hardware support, mobile payment has already overcome some obstacles. The future battlefield of mobile payment will focus on payment scenario applications, and the most critical factor will be offline support capabilities."
In terms of innovative payment technologies and methods on QR code payment, proximity payment and add-on pay, Alipay has played many tricks, with strong momentum in areas such as QR code payments and taxi hailing, while traditional giants such as mobile carriers seem to be hoping to stage a comeback by relying on the "small city effect" and expanding into people's livelihood applications and seeking bundled discounts.
With the popularity of proximity payments, "proximity payment & remote payment" has become a trend.
Nowadays, more and more scenarios have begun to implement mobile payment projects. Projects such as "Future Hospital", "Future Bus", and "Future Life Plaza" launched by Alipay Wallet enable users to complete booking, shopping, inquiry, and payment behaviors online. It covers medical health, public services, and urban business districts comprehensively, and constructing relevant O2O payment scenarios.
Mobile payment is characterized by its convenience, technology, and security, making it the mainstream payment method and accepted by more people. From the perspective of payment technology, the era of digital passwords is entering the era of biometric recognition. In addition to mobile fingerprint payments, more companies have begun to explore facial recognition payments.