Chinese smartphone and electronics manufacturer Xiaomi has launched its own payments service called Mi Pay. Xiaomi vice president Hugo Barra said that this was the company's first major foray into financial services. MI PAY: Xiaomi and UnionPay just announced Mi Pay in China, our first major foray into financial services pic.twitter.com/y9RrRJtpf8 — Hugo Barra (@hbarra) September 1, 2016 With this, Xiaomi has joined other technology companies - such as Apple, Google, Microsoft, and Samsung - which are looking to build out their own payments ecosystem. However, Mi Pay will only be available in China right now and has tied up with Bank of China and Union Pay, a card network in China. TechCrunch reports that Mi Pay can be used for paying for public transit services and will be NFC enabled. So far, the only NFC enabled device from Xiaomi is the Mi 5. Mi Pay can hold up to eight cards per user and requires card number and verification. This card number will be tokenized similar to Apple Pay and Android Pay. Users need tap their phone on an NFC payment terminal, and the default credit or debit card is charged. The wallet sends a one-time transaction number and encrypted security code that won’t work for any other device, person, or purchase. Focus on services In June, Xiaomi signed a deal with Microsoft to preload Office and Skype on Xiaomi devices. The company is also acquiring 1500 Microsoft patents. Starting in September 2016, Xiaomi’s Android devices, including Mi 5, Mi Max, Mi 4s, Redmi Note 3 and Redmi…
