Is there room for one more? Huawei thinks so.
The Chinese company has reportedly amped up its efforts to launch its own mobile payment system – dubbed Huawei Pay – through a new partnership with state-run bank China UnionPay Co.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Huawei’s payment system has now moved out of its testing phase and the company is working to expand its availability through the new collaboration with UnionPay.
The agreement between Huawei and UnionPay follows the announcement of a similar partnership between Apple and UnionPay in December. Apple launched its Apple Pay service in China last month.
Samsung has also teamed up with UnionPay to launch its Samsung Pay mobile payment system in China, but has not specified a launch date. The company has so far said it hopes to roll out the service in that country as soon as “early 2016.”
The Wall Street Journal said Huawei smartphone owners who have a near-field communication-capable device with a fingerprint sensor can download the Huawei Pay app. Each transaction requires a fingerprint scan for verification, the report said.
Huawei’s leap into the mobile payment space couldn’t come at a better time.
According to a recent report from TrendForce, global revenue from mobile payment systems is expected to hit $620 billion this year. That figure amounts to a nearly 38 percent increase year-over-year from $450 billion in 2015, the report said.
Mobile Payment revenues are expected to reach $1.08 trillion by 2019, according to the TrendForce forecast.
TrendForce said a large part of this year’s revenue boost will come from Apple Pay and Samsung Pay’s entrance into the market in China. TrendForce said the country makes up a “huge slice” of the mobile payment market.
And it looks like Huawei might already have an edge in the country.
According to IDC figures, Huawei was the top smartphone vendor in China in the fourth quarter with a 15.2 percent market share. The company edged out Apple, with 14.6 percent of the market share, and Xiaomi, with 14.4 percent of the market share, for the top slot.
