Transaction Trends

Consumers in China are ramping up their mobile payment purchases, according to the “Internet Trends 2017—Code Conference Report,” written by Mary Meeker and published by Kleiner Perkins and Hillhouse Capital. The analysis indicates that mobile payment volume rose to more than $5 trillion in 2016, which is more than double 2015 volume. Most mobile purchases in China are being made using AliPay (54 percent) and WeChat Pay (40 percent), according to the report. These two payment platforms have relatively low merchant discount rates compared to U.S. credit cards and PayPal.

Convenience tops the list of reasons for using mobile payments in China, according to the research. Consumers also are using mobile payments to replace cards and to earn rebates, among other reasons. The report also indicates that mobile payments offer a gateway for China’s internet leaders to offer diversified financial services platforms.

China’s business-to-consumer e-commerce is experiencing significant growth, and is largely mobile by value. While approximately $200 billion in e-commerce desktop purchases were recorded in 2016, more than $400 billion in mobile e-commerce purchases were made, according to the report, which cites iResearch data.

In a separate report released by the China National Commercial Information Center, the value of China’s e-commerce market accounted for 39.2 percent of the global market at the end of 2016, rendering it the largest globally for consecutive years in terms of trading value. Online shopping consumers numbered 467 million last year, according to the report.