Along with over 20 commercial banks, UnionPay marked on Saturday its foray into the mobile payment segment with the launching of its Quick Pass payment tool, the Global Times reported.
Quick Pass, which is based on near-field communication (NFC) technology, allows consumers to do transactions by tapping their smartphones against payment terminals, according to the bank card association.
Information acquired during purchases are stored in the smartphones.
UnionPay added that by using the payment tool, consumers can also get discounts at 25 retail chains including Watsons, McDonald's and Carrefour.
Among UnionPay's partnering major banks are the China Construction Bank and the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China.
According to Zhang Yi, CEO of the Guangzhou-based consultancy iiMedia Research, "UnionPay's experience as a clearing network will make it easier to reach cooperation deals with banks and merchants."
China's mobile payment sector, which is currently valued at 18.17 trillion yuan, proves to be a tough battlefield for its players. Recently, third-party payment tools like Alibaba's Alipay and Tencent's WeChat Wallet launched aggressive promotions to increase their users' loyalty. For instance, Alipay offered a 50-yuan discount for a minimum transaction of 100 yuan during its promotion at Carrefour over the weekend.
The players, apart from the entry of Quick Pass, are also threatened as technology giant Apple is also set to bring its Apple Pay to the local market come February of next year.
Media reports have surfaced last month stating that Apple has already sealed agreements with UnionPay among other major banks for the said foray.