Huawei is currently seeking the approval from local authorities to acquire licensed digital payment service provider, Xunlian Zhifu, in China. The move arrives as the company aims to diversify and expands its services into the digital payment industry.

According to a TechNode report, the Chinese tech giant attempting to acquire the digitial payment based firm as an attempt to enter the market, while local regulators are attempting to break the duopoly in the market held by Ant Group and Tencent. The local government has proposed new antitrust laws to deal with both firms. Furthermore, Huawei is also planning on recruiting a large number of digital payment positions (like deposit management, clearance, and bank cooperation), apart from just acquiring the payment service provider.

For those unaware, Xunlian Zhifu was founded back in 2013, by a rival Chinese tech giant, ZTE. The firm launched its online payment license in 2014. Back in 2016, ZTE sold over 90 percent of its stake in the digital payment firm to a Shanghai based holding company. At the moment, Huawei is operating Huawei Pay, which is a payment service that uses NFC and has been built into its smartphones since 2016.

Currently, regulators in China have ramped up anti monopoly policies in the last few months, after the suspension of the Ant group deal back in November 2020. Ant Group accounts for 55.6 percent of the country’s digital payment market and Tencent with 38.8 percent. So, with this acquisition we can expect Huawei to maybe become a notable player in the digital payment sector in China.

RELATED:

• Huawei asks US courts to overturn its national security threat designation
• Top stories from last week: Huawei’s new foldable is coming, MediaTek’s first mmWave modem, Xiaomi’s new concept phone and more
• Upcoming Smartphones in February 2021: Huawei, Xiaomi, Samsung, Nokia, & a lot more!

The post Huawei to acquire Chinese digital payment firm: Report appeared first on Gizmochina.

Huawei Pay makes its debut in Singapore with an exclusive partnership with ICBC (The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China) Singapore Bank. The app will come pre-installed on the Huawei P40 series and can be downloaded on other Huawei / Honor devices from App Gallery.

Huawei Pay launch in Singapore is in an exclusive collaboration with UnionPay. The mobile payment service by Huawei Mobile Services (HMS) can be used for contactless and cashless payments on Huawei / Honor devices.

ICBC Singapore bank is the first and the only bank to support the service for now. As part of the launch offer, users making purchases via Huawei Pay by registering their ICBC UnionPay credit cards between 1 April and 30 September will be rewarded with Huawei Points and cashback up to S$20 on every transaction. Additionally, users will be subjected to a welcome gift of 10 Huawei Points worth S$10, which can be used to make payments in Huawei AppGallery, Themes, Video, Mobile Cloud and more.

Since Huawei Pay supports contactless NFC payments in retail stores, it can be used by tapping supported Huawei / Honor devices on POS (Point-of-Sale) terminals instead of physical credit cards. The service makes use of devices’ biometric authentication system for security.

Additionally, Huawei P40 series will go on sale in Singapore from tomorrow, i.e. April 4. Launch offers include freebies like 50GB Huawei Mobile Cloud for 12 months, Smart View Flip Cover (worth S$58), and Huawei SuperCharge Wireless Car Charger (worth S$98, only P40 Pro). The Huawei P40 and  P40 Pro will be available in Silver Frost, Blush Gold, and Deep Blue Sea color variants for a price tag of S$1,048 and S$1,448 respectively.

In Singapore, the Huawei P40 series can be purchased from Huawei Concept Stores, major telco outlets, selected consumer electronic stores and online retailers like Lazada and Shopee.

Apart from Huawei Pay, Huawei Video is also launching in Singapore with the P40 series availability in the region. The video streaming service offers over 4,000 titles from BBC Studios. Further, the company promises to bring more partners to the platform soon. 

UP NEXT: Huawei lost $12 billion in Revenues after US ban and loss of Google Apps in 2019

The post Huawei Pay launches in Singapore, P40 Series Sale from April 4 appeared first on Gizmochina.

Smartphones have basically replaced most of your access and credit cards, especially in China. You can simply open the designated app on your phone to make shopping payments, unlock doors, buy tickets for transportation, and so on. Physical identity cards have also been replaced by virtual e-ID cards on your phone. And Huawei Wallet’s auto card selection makes this process extremely easy on your phone. 

Traditionally, you would have had to manually select the appropriate card while making payments or buying a ticket for transportation. But Huawei Wallet’s auto card selection feature launched alongside the Mate 30 Pro can automatically identify the appropriate card according to the situation.

All you have to do is open the Huawei Wallet app and place your smartphone close to the scanner. The Wallet app will automatically select the appropriate card at the time of use. For example, if you are at a subway station, you can simply open the Huawei Wallet app and it will automatically select your subway card to purchase a ticket. Similarly, if you are at the supermarket about to make a payment, it can automatically select one of your credit cards (already added to the app) to make the payment. In short, you don’t have to individually select the card each time you use your phone for payment or authorization.

It’s a really cool feature especially if you live in a country like China where you can practically do anything using your smartphone. However, it remains to be seen if this feature is made available internationally.

UP NEXT: Huawei’s Global Flagship Store opens in Shenzhen, Long queues spotted for Mate 30 series

The post Huawei Wallet’s Auto Card Selection will make payments extremely easy on the Mate 30 Pro appeared first on Gizmochina.

Huawei has reportedly submitted trademark for Huawei Pay mobile payments service to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) on Sept. 13. Huawei Pay for the U.S. is expected to get approved at some point in the coming year.

In the previous month, the Chinese smartphone OEM had filed a trademark for Huawei Pay in Europe with the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO). The USPTO and EUIPO are expected to take couple of months to approve the filings for Huawei Pay.

Huawei Pay was introduced in the home country of China in early 2016. However, the recent trademark filings suggest that the company wants its mobile payments service to widely available. The Chinese firm is yet to make an official announcement on expanding the Huawei Pay service in multiple markets. There is no confirmation on whether the company has partnered with banks and other financial institutions in the U.S. or Europe. In China, Huawei Pay is supported by only a small number of banks.

Huawei Pay can be used on NFC enabled devices to make payments at supported terminals. It is expected to rival with Android Pay and Samsung Pay in the near future. The patent filing has revealed three things about Huawei Pay such as: send and receive funds from others, authentication software, and magnetically encoded cards.

Read More: Huawei Kirin 970 Reaches 1.2Gbps in Downlink Speed Tests

The upcoming Huawei Mate 10 flagship phone is scheduled to get unveiled on Oct. 16. It takes up to three months for USPTO to approve a trademark filing which suggests that the Huawei Pay may launch in the U.S. at the end of this year or early 2018. Judging by the availability of the Mate 9 in the U.S., it can be guessed that the Mate 10 would be arriving in the country in early 2018.

The big players like Apple, Samsung and Google have well established mobile payment services in the U.S. Huawei is second largest smartphone maker in the world and having its own mobile payment service for the U.S. and other markets always appeared inevitable.

Huawei may opt to announce the Huawei Pay for the U.S. audience separately. However, since it is not a major smartphone brand in the country, it may go with the idea of launching Huawei Pay with Mate 10. There is a possibility that the Chinese firm may reveal more information on Huawei Pay at the launch event of Mate 10 and Mate 10 Pro in the coming month.

(source|via)

The post Huawei Pay May Soon Arrive in the U.S. appeared first on Gizmochina.

A few weeks back, Apple launched its Apple Pay mobile payment service in China, which is one of its important markets outside of US. Now, joining the club, Huawei has announced its own mobile payment service in China called as the Huawei Pay. At an event today, Bank of China and Huawei signed an official cooperation agreement for the same.

This news is not really surprising, given that, after Apple Pay was launched in the country, there was a new report that said that most Chinese manufacturers like Xiaomi, Huawei, ZTE etc were planning to release a payment service of their own. So, it looks like Huawei will be the first one to release such a service this year. The company could soon be followed by other smartphone makers in the country.

It actually makes sense for the company to release a mobile payment service like Huawei Pay in China. The company is doing well in the smartphone market, selling over 109 million units last year alone. This year, the company plans to sell even more devices, with a major focus outside of China. Despite the increased focus internationally, Huawei sold around 58% of smartphones in China alone. Also, considering the growing number of users who rely on their smartphones for payments, this is actually a great move for consumers as it will make paying for goods and services easier than before.

However, at this point, Huawei is yet to reveal any specific details about the Huawei Pay service. Bank of China currently seems to be the only partner, but we can expect more tie-ups soon.

The post Huawei Pay Announced In China, Will Take On Similar Services From Apple & Samsung appeared first on Gizmochina.