Several Chinese smartphone manufacturers have decided to stop supporting near field communication (NFC) for contactless payments, despite the adoption of the technology by major phone makers, including Apple, the Southern Metropolis Daily reported.
Meizu has removed the NFC feature from its previous model, the MX4 Pro, which was launched only six months ago, and from its new flagship model, the MX5, which was unveiled on June 30 and was using the "mTouch" finger print recognition feature to authorize payments through Alipay.
The report said that Xiaomi, the smartphone leader in China, also did not support NFC in its Mi4 model launched six months ago, and the country's smartphone sector remains pessimistic about the technology's outlook.
According to the report, Apple Pay, which is NFC-based, plans to expand outside Apple's home market, the U.S., to the United Kingdom on July 14, while mobile phone users in China continue to make payments using Alipay and WeChat, using barcodes and QR Codes for vendors to process each transaction.
Hao Xiaoliang, an industry observer, said that NFC involves suppliers of chips that support the technology and great efforts to integrate banks, vendors and telecom operators, compared to the use of barcodes, which is easier and more convenient.
Payments using NFC would also require the point-of-sale (POS) equipment of China UnionPay, the country's largest debit and credit card issuer, Hao added.
According to Hao, to support contactless NFC payments, it would take China UnionPay about 300-500 yuan ($48.30-$80.50) to upgrade a unit of POS equipment.
However, China's public transportation services are mainly supported by NFC to enable passengers to use their mobile phones to pay their fares.
The report said that the attitude toward NFC could change after Apple Pay is introduced in China, since the American company is likely to generate impact in its new business areas.