Xiaomi launches Mi Pay mobile payment service

Mobile payment services have become the latest fad. The latest joining the trend is China based company Xiaomi. Known primarily for its high on performance but low on budget phones, the company had recently unveiled its very own Mi Pay platform.

Xiaomi’s Mi Pay platform, just like other payment services in the market, is a NFC based payment system. The platform is expected to give a good fight to Apple Pay, Samsung Pay, Android Pay, and various other services offered by some banking mobile applications.

As of now, the China based company’s Mi Pay platform only supports a few Chinese banks and is only available for Xiaomi’s Mi 5 flagship.

The Chinese banks which Xiaomi’s Mi Pay platform currently supports includes Industrial Bank, China Construction Bank, Ping An Bank, China Merchants Bank, Bank of Communications, Minsheng Bank, and Huaxia Bank. The company has also announced a list of banks which the platform will support by next month. This list includes Guangdong Development Bank, Bank of China, China Everbright Bank, Industrial and Commercial Bank, and Beijing Bank.

A user can make contactless payments through the Mi Pay platform by assigning credit and debit cards. In addition to this, the Xiaomi platform also works with certain membership, loyalty and gift cards.

According to industry experts, since a few of the Xiaomi phones already come with NFC technology, the company will most expectedly issue the updates to Mi Pay to other devices in the near future. Also, in all probability, Xiaomi’s future smartphones, such as the Mi Note 2 and Redmi 4, will already have Mi Pay integrated in them.

Xiaomi seems to be trying hard to break away from the image of being just a smartphone company. In addition to the Mi Pay platform, the company has also launched a Mi Washing Machine priced at a decent CNY 1,499 (approx Rs. 15,000).