Xiaomi launches Mi Pay in China
The NFC cashless mobile payment service by Xiaomi supports debit and credit cards from 20 banks, and it’s compatible with public transport payment. However, all of this is only possible within China.
With the help of China UnionPay, Xiaomi unleashed Mi Pay on 1st September 2016, adding another alternative to the growing list of NFC mobile payment methods.
At launch, Mi Pay supports credit cards from 20 banks, and debit cards from 12 banks. Banks on their list include Bank of China, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, China Construction Bank, Bank of Communications, and China Merchants Bank. Mi Pay is also compatible with public transportation cards from six cities in China. Xiaomi does not have plans to roll out Mi Pay beyond China at the moment, according to a Xiaomi statement given to CNET.
To bind your cards to Mi Pay, a user will need to open the Mi Wallet app to add the correct cards. After entering card details, users will need to complete an SMS verification to confirm their Mi Pay settings. Like Apple Pay, Android Pay, and Samsung Pay, the Mi Pay method also uses fingerprint verification before payments. Users will need to tap the enabled Xiaomi phone on China UnionPay’s QuickPass terminals. Each Xiaomi device can store up to eight different cards.
Since Mi Pay also uses NFC for its cashless transactions, the only Xiaomi phone that supports Mi Pay is the Xiaomi Mi 5. With Mi Pay up and running, Xiaomi has more reasons to include NFC as a mainstay for their low-cost devices.
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