Electronic Payment Services Brought to Mobile Subscribers in Chongqing
CHONGQING, China, /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ SmartPay Jieyin Ltd. (’’SmartPay’’) today announced the launch of its electronic payment system in Chongqing. The system allows mobile users to pay their phone bills, top up their pre-paid accounts, purchase online gaming time and other merchant offerings simply by sending an SMS message. In addition, mobile subscribers will be able to access a wide variety of payment and information services.

Partner merchants and banks including China Unicom, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) and the Agricultural Bank of China (ABC) have already been fully integrated into the system. Other large merchants and banks will be added in the coming months.

Details of the ongoing promotion surrounding the launch of SmartPay services in Chongqing can be seen at [ >>> ] .
The system launch in Chonqing closely follows the launch of SmartPay services in Shanghai and Anhui. With the addition of Chongqing, over 11 million mobile phone subscribers can now use SmartPay to pay for merchant offerings conveniently and electronically.

Customers can easily register for the SmartPay service through ICBC’s phone banking system (dial 95588) or ABC’s extensive network of over 500 branches. Customers can also access the service through SmartPay’s website at [ >>> ] .

SmartPay’s Vice President for Business Development, Jennifer Zhao Lizhen, commented at the launch, ’’Electronic payments are clearly becoming a critical step in the continued growth of consumer commerce in China. SmartPay is helping merchants sell products to consumers in Chongqing, Anhui, Shanghai and shortly many other provinces. There is a huge desire on the part of merchants and banks to make this succeed, because they realize that their business and consumers demand more convenient payments.’’

SmartPay’s coverage continues to expand. In the coming two quarters, the Company expects services to commence in Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Beijing, Hebei, Liaoning, Shandong and many other provinces.

About SmartPay

SmartPay operates a consumer electronic payment service in China under the brand name ’’Jieyin.’’ Jieyin processes electronic payment of consumer mobile and VoIP-based long distance phone bills. A significant number of merchants including many of China’s leading mobile operators, with a combined subscriber base of over fifty million consumers, have initially contracted with SmartPay to utilize this service. SmartPay will be launching additional direct-to-consumer (D2C) and peer-to-peer (P2P) payment services under the ’’Jieyin’’ brand name. SmartPay’s board and management include founders of some of China’s most successful technology companies, including Linktone and AsiaInfo.

Ina Steiner
AuctionBytes.com

Smartpay Jieyin Ltd. announced the completion of a $65 million round of equity financing that will be used to further expand the deployment of its Smartpay’s electronic payment services in China. Under the terms of the financing, 2b Holdings will lead a group of strategic investors and existing shareholders in providing $65 million in equity financing for Smartpay. 2b Holdings, an investment and advisory services concern, was an initial investor in EachNet, China’s leading auction and e-commerce Web site acquired by eBay. In addition, a significant percentage of the capital raised in this round was contributed by Lunar Group alongside existing shareholders and directors of the Company.

Smartpay’s CEO, Eric Rosenblum, said «The opportunity to establish an integrated electronic payments service is amongst the most significant in China, and will result in the creation of a highly valuable market leader. Smartpay has established an initial lead in this sector and this current round of financing will allow us to further consolidate and extend our leadership position.»

Smartpay operates a consumer electronic payment service in China under the brand name «Jieyin». Chinese consumers utilize Jieyin for the payment of their mobile and VoIP-based long distance phone bills. According to the company’s release, a significant number of China’s leading mobile operators, with a combined subscriber base of over fifty million consumers, have initially contracted with Smartpay to utilize this service for bill payments. Smartpay will be launching additional direct- to-consumer (D2C) and peer-to-peer (P2P) payment services under the «Jieyin» brand name.