CMB, HTC reveal new mobile-payment product

The public caught its first glimpse on Tuesday of a commercial mobile payment service that is expected to meet the central bank's standards, which have yet to be published.

China Merchants Bank Co Ltd, or CMB, and the Taiwanese cell phone manufacturer HTC Corp together released the mobile-payment product called "CMB wallet", which will allow consumers to spend money by placing their phones near a device known as a point-of-sale machine.

The "wallet" can be used to make payments in small sums, and CMB is planning to make it capable of processing large payments - those involving as much as 50,000 yuan ($7,900), for example - next year, said Liu Jianjun, director of the bank's retail finance headquarters.