Bank card association China UnionPay launched a smartphone application for mobile payments and financial services on Friday in Shanghai, a further effort to boost the emerging mobile payment market in the country, said market insiders.

The app, called simply Wallet, enables users to connect their phones with their bank card accounts, so they can simply swipe their phones against point of sales terminals. Users can also locate stores, hotels and other service providers and download vouchers.

Experts noted that mobile payments and mobile financial services have been widely promoted in China in the past two years, and with the rapid expansion of networks providing mobile payments and financial services, the sector may become a multi-billion-yuan market in the next few years.