Mobile Payments in China Surge 255% in 2014 First Quarter
Mobile payments in China have risen 255 percent year-over-year in the first quarter of 2014 to $623 billion, according to a recent People’s Bank of China (PBOC) report. In addition, mobile payments grew 232 percent year-over-year leading up to the first quarter of 2014. The rising use of mobile payment is boosting the fortunes of e-commerce firms such as Alibaba, whose revenue increased 66 percent year-over-year in the first quarter of 2014 to $3.1 billion. Meanwhile, JingDong, an online shopping site, recently closed its debut day up 10 percent after opening at 15 percent above its initial price of $19. The website’s revenue grew 68 percent in 2013 and 96 percent in 2012. The success of these e-commerce platforms was predicted by a 2013 PricewaterhouseCoopers survey, which found up to 14 percent of Chinese online shoppers shop daily, while 62 percent shop on a weekly basis. PBOC also estimates online payments grew 33.8 percent year-over-year overall, for a total of $46 trillion on 7.07 billion transactions.
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CNet (05/27/14) Bea, Francis