(17 August 2018 – China) Two of China’s largest financial services firms have partnered to develop a blockchain-based mobile payment system in a signal of the extent of China’s blockchain ambitions.
State-owned Bank of China and China UnionPay have agreed to jointly develop and promote the deployment of distributed ledger and big data technology within mobile payment services.
While China UnionPay will look to build a single port for mobile services where cardholders can use a QR code to access a cloud flash payment app, Bank of China will work on promoting the concept of a safer and more efficient mobile payment system.
In a busy week for China’s fintech sector, $20m in research grants have been awarded to a number of universities in Hong Kong to explore how blockchain technology can be deployed to enhance the security and efficiency of existing electronic payment systems.