Xiaomi registered “Beijing Xiaomi Payment Technology Ltd.” on December 26th, 2013, as disclosed by Beijing Administration for Industry and Commerce. Leijun, CEO of Xiaomi, is the chairman of the board. Another two co-founders of Xiaomi, Hong Feng and Lin Bin, are board directors of the payment company.

No surprise. The convenience of making payments is very important for monetizing any content or services on mobile. Mobile payment has become strategic tool for some Chinese tech companies such as Tencent and Alibaba that more financial products are expected to be created based on it. Alipay Wallet, the mobile payment app of Alibaba, has been way more than a payments app but a combination of digital loyalty program platform, taxi hauling service, among others. Tencent is heavily promoting WeChat Payment expecting users to consume everything within the mobile messaging app.

To operate payment services, Xiaomi still needs a license. But it’s not that hard nowadays that many Chinese internet companies, including Baidu and Sina, have obtained licences.