Consumer and business customers in China will soon have access to services based on Serve, a next-generation commerce technology...
Consumer and business customers in China will soon have access to services based on Serve, a next-generation commerce technology, following a new agreement between American Express and the Lianlian Group.
The Serve platform, which American Express will license to Lianlian Group, is expected to help power a new Lianlian Group digital wallet that consumers can use to top up mobile phone minutes, pay bills and purchase products or services. American Express has also made an equity investment in Lianlian Pay Inc., an overseas company of the Lianlian group of companies (collectively “Lianlian Group”).
Founded in 2004, Lianlian Group has served approximately 300 million mobile phone accounts. It operates a network of over 300,000 small business agents across China where customers can top up minutes on their mobile phones. A portion of that network also facilitates customer payments for airline tickets, video gaming credits and utility bills.
With Serve powering its new digital wallet, Lianlian Group will offer customers a fast and convenient way to handle day-to-day transactions, beginning with mobile top up minutes and over time expanding into other financial products and services. It will also help to build new business for local merchants in the fastest growing consumer market in the world.
Dan Schulman, Group President, Enterprise Growth, American Express, said: “By leveraging Serve into its infrastructure, Lianlian Group will be well positioned to enable consumers to bridge the gap between the limitation of paying with cash and the opportunities associated with digital commerce.”
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