Ant Financial to Launch VR Payment Service by End of September
Sohu IT, 8/08/16
Ant Financial, the financial services affiliate of Chinese e-commerce conglomerate Alibaba Group (NYSE: BABA), has announced plans to launch a virtual reality payment service "VR Pay" at the end of September.
Alibaba Group recently unveiled a virtual reality shopping service "Buy+," in which users can select, try on, and place orders within VR. However, users would still have to remove the VR helmet to complete the purchase. VR Pay, which Ant Financial has spent half a year developing, solves this problem by allowing users to complete payments within the VR landscape. When users place an order, VR Pay presents a 3D Alipay checkout counter. Users login to their Alipay account and enter their payment password through eye, head, and hand motions. VR Pay plans to offer a standardized SDK for third-party app developers.
The challenges of the technology involve simplifying the steps of operation in the VR interface and ensuring payment security, according to a member of the VR Pay development team. VR Pay is currently as secure as Alipay on a mobile device, and Ant Financial is debating whether or not to include biometric security features.
Editor's Note: For more information on Alibaba's Buy+ platform, please see "Alibaba Group Unveils VR Online Shopping Store 'Buy+'," MD 7/22/16 issue.
Keywords: e-commerce Internet Alibaba Group online shopping financial services BABA virtual reality Ant Financial Group online payment mobile payment VR Pay
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