Xiaomi battles rival on mobile payments

Xiaomi Corp will soon become the first Chinese smartphone vendor to add a mobile payment service to its handsets, pitting itself against foreign rivals Apple Inc and Samsung Electronics Co, which have already launched similar services.

The Beijing-based company said on its official microblog on Tuesday that it will launch MI Pay on Thursday by partnering with China's No 1 bank card association, China UnionPay.

Using near-field-communication or NFC technology, MI Pay will allow consumers to pay bills simply by holding their smartphones near point-of-sale terminals. It can be linked to credit cards and debit cards from 10 banks, the company said.