China has a population of 1.4 billion, half of whom now live in urban areas. This rapid concentration of populations in mega-cities means users have more services to access, while the speed of daily life demands fast NFC solutions. At the same time, China’s banking services are moving to EMV, especially in its contactless form, with more than 400 million contactless chip payment cards issued at the end of 2013(1). China Telecom’s massive NFC roll-out is happening just as the contactless ecosystem is being deployed. As most mega-cities are already equipped with contactless transport infrastructures, millions of China Telecom subscribers will soon be able to use their mobile phones to pay for everyday services, including riding the metro.
China Telecom subscribers will be able to choose from multiple types of NFC-enabled mobile phones to make payments for transportation, dining, shopping and petrol throughout the country. Airport check-ins, personal authentication services and employee ID services will be introduced in the future. The Gemalto UpTeq Multi-Tenant NFC SIM has been specially developed and customized by Gemalto for China Telecom. It is qualified by the operator and is part of a broader family of high-end products certified by China UnionPay China Telecom subscribers will enjoy secure and convenient 24/7 access to mobile contactless services.
“With smartphone penetration in China surpassing 66%(2) and over 3 million contactless POS terminals in the field(3), the mobile payment ecosystem is in place. The major players in China are launching NFC initiatives, enabling China Telecom’s subscribers to experience a rich variety of contactless services,” said Suzanne Tong-Li, President of Greater China and Korea at Gemalto. “The UpTeq SIM’s additional LTE feature will enable China Telecom to deliver an enhanced NFC experience to their customers, leveraging the accelerated download of NFC applications using their LTE network.”
(1) Source: China UnionPay
(2) Nielsen, cited in cnbeta, 2013
(3) http://cn.unionpay.com/anhui/col_14704/file_112870747.html