In 2020, about 74 percent of Chinese people used mobile payments every day because they’re easy and convenient, according to a survey report from the Payment & Clearing Association of China (PCAC).

A passenger scans a QR code of Alipay, a mobile payment app, to take bus in Hangzhou, capital of east China's Zhejiang Province. (Xinhua/Huang Zongzhi)

The report found that Chinese people tended to make small mobile payments last year, specifying that 38.4 percent of people paid less than 100 yuan ($15.44) per transaction through mobile payments, 23.3 percentage points higher than 2019, and 16.4 percent of people paid between 500 to 1,000 yuan per transaction through mobile payments, 18.9 percentage points lower than 2019.

The growth in the number of small payments, mainly in shops, public transportation, supermarkets and other venues closely linked with citizen's life, is a sign that mobile payments are playing an increasingly important role in offering convenience to users and boosting consumption, said Dong Ximiao, chief researcher with Merchants Union Consumer Finance Co. Ltd.

The growing popularity of mobile payments indicates the progress achieved in the infrastructure construction of mobile payments, said Sun Zhanping, a deputy executive with UnionPay.

Last year, making a payment through scanning a QR code was the most popular way of paying for things and services, while payment terminals were less used, the report showed.

63.4 percent of people are concerned about the security of mobile payments, according to the report, noting that security risks such as leakage of personal information, fake QR codes, and hackers who can access their payment accounts and take money from them were issues of top concern.