UnionPay’s New Mobile Payments Partnership

Smartphone maker Xiaomi is getting deeper into the mobile payments game with a well-known partner in China.

The company announced a partnership with China UnionPay, China’s state-sponsored domestic bank card organization, in order to bring it its own mobile payment service. No time frame has been announced for this service at the moment.

Xiaomi appears to be playing catch-up in the mobile payments industry, particularly in China, where there are already dominating players, like Alibaba and Tencent.

Playing catch-up comes via a service that will be known as QuickPass, which — like its counterparts — will enable mobile payments at the point of sale using NFC-enabled smartphones and terminals that accept contactless payments. But besides the major Chinese companies that are leading the mobile payments market, there is also Apple and Samsung vying for the mobile payments pie in the region.

The company, which currently leads mobile phone sales in China with a narrow margin over Apple, has, so far, heavily relied on eCommerce, rather than keeping stock in physical stores, to keep its prices low. Xiaomi’s flagship phone, the Mi 5, is priced at $250, which is over 2.5 times cheaper than Apple’s $650 iPhone 6s.