Govt near nod on UnionPay mobile payment standard

The Chinese government has almost reached an agreement to adopt a mobile payment standard initiated by China UnionPay, according to the chairman of China UnionPay. 

Xu Luode, the company's chairman, said on Wednesday that the 13.56 MHz mobile payment standard got the final nod from Chinese authorities, the Beijing News reported.

This is the first official indication on which standard will be selected and used across the country. If the decision is made, China will eventually settle down the issue after years of fighting over a nationwide mobile payment standard.

It also means that China Mobile Ltd, the nation's biggest telecom carrier, is about to lose the battle, since the operator has been promoting its mobile payment standard based on 2.4 GHz technology.

In addition, hardware manufacturers who partnered with China Mobile to invest in the company's technology may also fail to see returns. Nationz Technologies Inc, the sole chipset provider for the 2.4 GHz mobile payment standard, has seen its stock price almost halved this year.

According to a report by KPMG, Chinese people have a strong willingness to close deals through handsets. About 84 percent of Chinese respondents said they would like to use mobile payment services, while the world average was 66 percent, the report said.