China Mobile is looking to get a major stake in the Shanghai Pudong Development Bank, which is a medium-sized Chinese lender. The world’s largest mobile operator by subscribers is looking to acquire a 20% stake for CNY40 billion, which is about $5.9 billion.
You may wonder why an operator would need a bank. The idea is simple – to offer mobile money services (along with controlling the supply chain), plus to benefit from cross-selling. The tight integration between a bank and operator could prove beneficial for both parties, and owning a fifth of the company definitely buys you a place in the board of directors.
Apparently, China Mobile did say it will work on the mobile payment services this year. They’ve even ordered 3 million NFC SIM cards from Jiangsu Changjiang Electronics Technology (JCET) with plans to deploy them for use at the Shanghai World Expo in May. If that test proves to be working, I can see China Mobile requiring their vendors to NFC-enable every friggin’ phone for the Chinese market (at least the part of the market served by China Mobile). Add various mobile finance services to the mix and you get an increased ARPU… Makes perfect sense to me! 😉
[Via: MobileBusinessBriefing]