Mobile Phones Now a Payment Tool

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SHANGHAI, Sept. 11 – China Unicom has just launched a new program in Shanghai that allows mobile phones to be used for paying taxi, bus and subway fares and soon for shopping as well.

The company will provide users with a fare-settlement chip attached on the back of SIM cards. Phone and transport charges will then be combined in just one total bill to be sent to the user. It is the first time mobile phones can be used directly and instantly as a payment tool on the Chinese mainland, China Unicom told Shanghai Daily. The China Unicom chip will also be eligible to the same perks afforded to transport card users like discounts. “We will expand the mobile payment services to other sectors such as shopping in the future,” said He Yan, Shanghai Unicom’s market manager told Shanghai Daily.

Interested China Unicom subscribers can apply for  the service through company outlets around the city. The chip was developed by the company with the Shanghai Public Transportation Card Company and Shanghai Fudan Microelectronics Co.