Safe and embarrassment-free
When using mobile payments, foreigners share concerns over safety issues like their Chinese counterparts do.
Although she has never had a problem, Schmidt is concerned with safety of her information on mobile sites. "I always keep my pin number secured, the same as I would if I pay with a bank card."
Pratt is worried that someone may get access to his phone and take all of his money, but at the same time, he does not worry too much because he has developed a level of trust in the payment methods.
He uses WeChat wallet as an example. "You have to know a specific pin code that you set up [the wallet] with," Pratt said. "If I log into my WeChat from any other device, it can be automatically logged out of the current device. I'm sure there are security procedures set in place."
And there are those, like Natasha Shetye, an English teacher from India, whose concerns are washed away by the convenience of mobile payments.
"I used to be worried [about the safety issues], and I still am, but it's just too convenient."
Also being a little worried about safety, Johnson asks a friend of his who works in the mobile payment industry to share some tips.
"He told me to use a more complicated password for mobile payment apps, deselect 'remember me' and 'auto login' and set a spending limit," Johnson said. "These measures cannot bring 100 percent security, but it does help make mobile payments safer."
Mobile payments in China can not only offer a reasonable level of safety, but can sometimes save people from embarrassing situations.
Shetye was recently entertaining a few friends of hers from India in Beijing. The first day they arrived in Beijing, they went out for dinner; they were carrying dollars instead of RMB and the restaurant was not able to take the money or process the US credit card.
"It was an embarrassing situation for them and they called me for help. I simply transferred money over WeChat to the restaurant," Shetye said. "Without it, I would have had to travel all the way to their restaurant, which was far away [from where I was staying]."
Mobile payment in China
China is playing a leading role in the international market of mobile payments due to the purchasing habits of Chinese people, a wider user base and the multiple functions that have been integrated into mobile payments.
Ma Tao, the director of research of the financial industry center in Analysys, an Internet marketing research company, said that compared with Western countries, credit cards have not been used and developed in China for very long, therefore purchasing habits are different. "So it is easier for Chinese people to accept different methods of payment."
Besides, China offers great conditions for the development of mobile payments. According to Ma, there are more than 600 million Internet users in China, for most of whom, mobile devices have become their first choice for access to the Internet. In the first quarter of 2016, mobile payments in China have contributed over half a trillion yuan ($900.1 billion), with a ring growth of 5.34 percent.
At the same time, manufacturers of mobile payments are making efforts to build a stronger and more developed industrial chain and cultivate the purchasing habits of users.
For example, a report from Analysys explains that mobile payments are connected with social media apps and more functions have been added into the apps, such as finance and paying for utilities, including daily life services, like movie tickets and take-out. Therefore, a relatively large user base and strengthened financial properties power the apps, promoting the development of mobile payments in China.
Du Hong (pseudonym), an operation manager in a software development company in Beijing, said that compared to the past, Chinese people now are more open-minded to different ways of paying, and are constantly looking for ways to benefit more financially. In this sense, mobile payment is doing a good job in gaining people's trust.
"Using Alipay as an example, it offers a clear guarantee system when people put their money in," said Du. "If the money in the account is stolen, the company will compensate the loss. Besides, it claims no extra charges when people deposit and withdraw money."
Ma is optimistic about the future of mobile payments in China, but he is also aware of the challenges.
"Mobile commerce enterprises need to think about how to quickly, yet legally, develop under a tightened inspection of the government."
Schmidt and her friends had never used any form of mobile payments before they came to China. In her country, people do not have mobile payment options. She lived in South Korea for a period of time where mobile payment apps were only offered in Korean, with no option for English. She loves the user-friendly mobile payment in China.
Johnson cannot agree more.
"I love mobile payments so much that it is hard to adapt myself to my old life when I visit home where mobile payment is not as adopted and advanced," said Johnson.
"Whenever I am in my hometown for weeks, I cannot wait to get back to China to enjoy these conveniences again. I often feel like I live in the future when I can pay by simply touching the screen in Beijing."
