Xiaomi announces China-only Mi Pay mobile payment service

Xiaomi in partnership with China Union Pay has announced Mi Pay, its NFC-based mobile payment service in China. Mi pay will support credit cards from 20 different banks and debit cards from 12 banks in China, and also public transportation cards across six cities in China.

Xiaomi claims that its the first "smartphone company in the world" to support contactless payments through both bank cards as well as public transportation cards.

Mi Pay makes use of NFC as well as separate secure element chip that has passed the EAL 6+ security test. Mi Pay will currently work only with the Mi 5 running the latest MIUI 8, because it is the only phone equipped with NFC chip. Additionally, to make the transactions more secure, Xiaomi has added several safety mechanisms in the software side.

For example, users cannot link a bank card with Mi Pay unless they are logged in to their Mi accounts. Mi Pay also makes users verify their fingerprint scanner for maximum security. In case the phone is lost, the Mi Pay app can be turned off through Xiaomi's website and find their device using Mi Cloud.

To add a card to Mi Pay, users have to open Mi Wallet app, select the option to add a bank card and provide details, verify their fingerprint and go through SMS verification for final confirmation. The Mi Pay app supports up to eight different cards on a single device. Users will also get benefit from promotions and rewards offered by banks.

Via