Comments on Mobile Payment in China: Practice and Its Effects

Abstract

The paper provides an excellent overview of many aspects of China’s mobile payments sector. In a relatively short time this sector has developed from almost scratch to one of the most advanced in the world. In addition, the paper utilizes measures of digital financial inclusion (Wang et al. 2019) to assess several aspects of Chinese households’ behavior and, for example, risk-sharing. Section 2 is interesting in the way it recounts the history of China’s mobile payment in-dustry. It recounts the rapid development of the industry, especially during the past five to six years. In addition, the network effects described in Sections 2 and 3 highlight an interesting organic development of a virtual duopoly in the Chinese mobile payment in-dustry. In addition, they highlight how regulation—or, more precisely, lack of it—has al-lowed Chinese companies to innovate at a rapid pace and start utilizing novel technologies quickly. In other markets, payment innovations have been often much slower. In some ways China has also been able to leap-frog other, obsolete technologies, having started ini-tially from a relatively low base. Finally, quite apparently Chinese consumers have been quite willing to adopt such technologies, as they have made, for example, transactions eas-ier and more convenient. At the same time, there are other countries in Europe, such as in Scandinavia and the Baltic countries, that have also progressed quite far in the use of electronic payments.