Payments the Barrier for M-Commerce in China

People Daily has an interesting story about mobile payments in China. Though the mobile payment market in China is estimated to be over 5 billion Chinese Yuan a year, M-Commerce sellers still complain that their businesses have been held back by the lack of safe and convenient mobile payment methods.

China’s mobile Internet business is promising, but its underdeveloped payment system makes it hard for online retailers to make money, according to Zhang Xiaowei, who runs an e-commerce mobile Internet website in China.

Founded in 2006, it now has daily transactions worth a total of almost 1 million yuan ($154,248). However, 95 percent of them have to be cash on delivery, Zhang said. “Though our business is booming, we cannot conveniently collect money through people’s mobile phones,” Zhang said. Chinese people are reluctant to pay on mobile Internet because of security concerns and the complicated procedures needed to complete a deal, he said.

Many see the opportunities in mobile payments:

The market volume for 2011 is estimated be 5.24 billion yuan, according to the Beijing-based research firm Analysys International. The rosy prospects have attracted Internet giants, telecom operators and financial organizations to the industry.