Payment is becoming simpler.

On November 26, Huawei's new product launch event attracted much attention. During the event, Huawei Executive Director Yu Chengdong specifically mentioned the 'unique payment skill' of Huawei Mate 70 and Mate X6 foldable phones - 'Tap and Pay', and stated that after joint optimization by Huawei and Alipay, the payment efficiency of 'Tap and Pay' has been significantly improved.

'Tap and Pay' is a new payment feature launched by Alipay in July this year, allowing users to quickly complete payments by unlocking their phones and tapping the merchant's payment device without displaying a payment code.

It is worth mentioning that after the launch of 'Tap and Pay', more and more mobile phone manufacturers are stepping up their efforts in their own devices.

For example, when the Redmi Note 14 was launched in September this year, Wang Teng, General Manager of the Redmi brand, officially announced the cooperation between Xiaomi and Alipay, and introduced the optimized 'Tap and Pay' experience through a video, praising the Redmi Note 14 series for completing payments in as fast as 2 steps and 1 second.

What new experiences can the combination of 'mobile phone manufacturers + Tap and Pay' bring to users? What signals does it release behind the scenes?

01 Why is the 'Huawei version' of Tap and Pay being praised?

Like QR code payments and face recognition payments, 'Tap and Pay' is another upgrade in payment experience based on barcode payments.

'Scan' uses the display and camera on the phone, while 'Tap and Pay' uses NFC (Near Field Communication) on the phone. Of course, both 'Scan' and 'Tap and Pay' are equally secure. However, in terms of payment process and efficiency, 'Tap and Pay' is clearly superior.

When using 'Scan' to pay, users need to unlock their phones, find the payment app, tap 'Scan' or show the payment code, and then jump to the payment page to confirm the payment, involving many steps. In contrast, 'Tap and Pay' only requires unlocking the phone and tapping it on the merchant's payment device to complete the payment, making the process simpler, faster, and providing a better user experience.

Although NFC is used, there is still a fundamental difference between 'Tap and Pay' and traditional NFC payments.

In mobile NFC payment mode, the user's bank card information is encrypted and stored locally on the phone, and the payment information is transmitted to the POS machine via NFC during payment, which then sends a request to the bank to complete the payment. In the 'Tap and Pay' mode, the NFC device merely completes verification with the user's phone, akin to a 'handshake', and does not transmit payment information; all payment information remains stored on Alipay's server.

So, what functional improvements have been made to the 'Tap and Pay' feature of Huawei Mate 70 and Mate X6?

From this launch event, the most notable feature of the 'Tap and Pay' function on Huawei Mate 70 and Mate X6 foldable phones is that 'you can tap as soon as the screen is on'.

Specifically, compared to Android phones that require unlocking before tapping, Huawei Mate 70 and Mate X6 can be tapped as soon as the screen is on, making the tapping action earlier and thus providing a more convenient experience.

This feature has received praise from many netizens, with some users joking that with 'Tap and Pay', they can grab the check faster than anyone else, paying before others have even unlocked their phones.

It is worth mentioning that Huawei Mate 70 and Mate X6 foldable phones' 'Tap and Pay' feature is not only faster than other Android phones that require unlocking before tapping, but also faster than iPhone's 'Tap and Pay'. According to Yu Chengdong at the launch event, it is "flying high." Some netizens joked, "It turns out the Fruit King is slower" and "Can Huawei help Apple out?"

In fact, the enhancement of Huawei's 'Tap and Pay' feature with Alipay is built on a solid foundation.

As early as December 2023, Alipay and Huawei Terminals announced their cooperation, with Alipay initiating the development of HarmonyOS native applications. In June this year, the Alipay HarmonyOS beta version was launched. In October this year, the Alipay HarmonyOS native version was officially launched on the Huawei HarmonyOS NEXT public beta day, followed by a new upgrade to the Alipay HarmonyOS native version, achieving the 'Tap and Pay' payment experience on the HarmonyOS system for the first time, leading up to the recent launch of the 'Tap and Pay' feature on Huawei Mate 70 and Mate X6. With a series of actions, the Huawei version of 'Tap and Pay' experience is being optimized at an accelerated pace.

Looking at the longer timeline, after the launch of 'Tap and Pay', many domestic mobile phone manufacturers began to accelerate their efforts. What did they see?

02 Why are mobile phone manufacturers stepping up their efforts on 'Tap and Pay'?

After the launch of 'Tap and Pay' in July this year, some mainstream mobile phone manufacturers initially only made 'Tap and Pay' smoother by updating their systems. Now, 'Tap and Pay' has frequently appeared at major mobile phone launch events, showcased as an important highlight feature and even considered as "one of the factory inspection standards for new phones."

In September this year, at the "Tap and Pay, Opening New Opportunities for Digital Ecosystem" Insights Forum of the 2024 Inclusion·Bund Summit, Liu Dehuang, Director of OPPO ColorOS Communication Software R&D, stated that 'Tap and Pay' has been included as one of the factory inspection standards for new phones.

Behind the mobile phone manufacturers' increased efforts on 'Tap and Pay', the primary goal is naturally to optimize the user and merchant experience and enhance product competitiveness.

Data released by the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology on November 27 showed that China's mobile phone shipments reached 250 million units in the first 10 months of this year, a year-on-year increase of 8.9%. After experiencing a downturn, China's mobile phone industry is now experiencing a recovery. For mobile phone manufacturers, to gain more incremental growth during the industry's upturn, they need to attract more users through experiential innovation. These users include not only ordinary consumers (C-end) but also businesses (B-end). By increasing their efforts on 'Tap and Pay', mobile phone manufacturers can improve the operating experience for both consumers and businesses, gaining more favor in the market and achieving higher competitiveness.

For example, brand members can enjoy member prices and points with a simple 'Tap and Pay', and new users can complete membership registration in as fast as 3 seconds. Most users won't miss out on member discounts that are just a tap away. For businesses, 'Tap and Pay' enables fast cash register operations, new member acquisition and operation, and targeted private domain marketing through digital operations, achieving a "one-tap triple win." According to calculations by the first batch of cooperating merchants, 'Tap and Pay' is more popular due to its simplicity, with 61% of young people continuing to use it after their first experience, and businesses can effectively increase brand operating efficiency by 10% to 30%.

In other words, 'Tap and Pay' can become a highlight feature that attracts both consumers and businesses, and mobile phone manufacturers naturally won't miss out on this opportunity.

In addition to enhancing the user experience, 'Tap and Pay' is also contributing to the ecological construction of mobile phone manufacturers.

Today, competition among mobile phone manufacturers is no longer limited to hardware but extends to ecosystems. For example, Huawei regards the development of the HarmonyOS operating system as "one of the three major battles," and the operating system cannot exist without a rich application ecosystem and strong developer support, thereby building an ecosystem that covers various fields and meets the diverse needs of users. Similarly, the ecosystem is also one of Xiaomi's core advantages, and OPPO and vivo are also accelerating the construction of their own smart ecosystems.

How to build an ecosystem? The key is to embrace new things with an open mindset, and Huawei is a typical example. On November 7 this year, Alipay and Huawei reached a strategic cooperation agreement, and the two parties will continue in-depth cooperation around the HarmonyOS ecosystem and the 'Tap and Pay' ecosystem, innovating product value and enhancing the user experience. It is evident that the focus of their cooperation is the integration of the two ecosystems.

03 Looking to the future, the imagination space of 'Tap and Pay'

'Tap and Pay' is not just about payment.

Specifically, payment is just one of many usage scenarios for 'Tap and Pay', and there are many other scenarios to explore. It will become a new entry point for interaction, enhancing the experience for various groups, extending to more diverse scenarios, and bringing imaginative business value and industrial strength.

Han Xinyi, President and Chief Financial Officer of Ant Group, once pointed out that 'Tap and Pay' combines the three advantages of new experience, new business, and new technology, with the new experience connecting with young people, digitalization bringing new business opportunities, and new technology upgrading new industrial opportunities. In terms of new technology, 'Tap and Pay' has jointly created more than 50 'Tap and Pay + X' industry solutions.

Recently, Alipay and its partners released three major scenario solutions for the first time: 'Tap and Pay' for ordering, 'Tap and Pay' for handheld cash registers, and 'Tap and Pay' for opening smart vending machines, which are open to the entire industry. Among them, the 'Tap and Pay' ordering function alone has been gradually integrated into 100,000 restaurants nationwide, including Wallace, Burger King, Sukiya, and Chenxianggui Beef Noodles.

In the future, the 'Tap and Pay' service system will continue to expand, encompassing not only mobile phone manufacturers but also a series of retail brands, supermarkets, restaurants, tea and coffee shops, convenience stores, apparel, cosmetics and daily necessities, home appliances and 3C products, jewelry, baked goods and snacks, and other industry brands.

The more efficient payment experience brought by 'Tap and Pay' also aligns with social trends. For example, in March this year, the state issued the "Opinions on Further Optimizing Payment Services and Enhancing Payment Convenience," which mentioned the need to coordinate efforts to clear bottlenecks in payment services, bridge the digital divide, and provide higher-quality, more efficient, and convenient payment services for groups such as the elderly and foreign visitors to China. 'Tap and Pay' also adds more value in lowering the payment threshold and eliminating the digital divide.

04 Conclusion

Today, mobile phones remain the primary entry point for payments and can help promote new payment methods.

It is foreseeable that as more and more mobile phone manufacturers deepen their efforts on 'Tap and Pay', this new payment experience will help a wider population experience mobile payments, bringing a more efficient and imaginative lifestyle.