Huawei obtains payment license by acquiring digital payment company

Chinese telecom giant Huawei Technologies obtained a payment license after acquiring a digital payment company, Shenzhen Sharelink Network, according to database query platform Tianyancha.

Information on Tianyancha on March 25 showed that Shanghai VRTime Technology had withdrawn as a shareholder of Shenzhen Sharelink Network, and Huawei had taken a 100 percent stake.

Founded by ZTE in 2013, Shenzhen Sharelink Network owned a payment license in 2014 for operating online and mobile payment-based businesses. In 2016, ZTE sold 90 percent of its stake in the payment provider to the Shanghai-based company.

Huawei is the latest of China's big tech firms to explore the digital payment field. Tencent's Tenpay, which includes WeChat Pay, and Alibaba-backed Alipay control almost 94 percent of the Chinese mobile payment market, according to consumer data provider Statista. 

The tech giant has already entered into the payment industry by creating mobile payment service Huawei Pay in 2016, which is "an easy and secure way to make payments" with Huawei or Honor devices, according to the company's product description.