American Express eyes China

The Wall Street Journal reports.

American Express has made a $125 million investment in Lianlian Pay, a Cayman Islands-based holding company of Lianlian Group, says Dan Schulman, president of the enterprise growth group at American Express.

Lianlian will integrate the Serve technology into various mobile wallet services, allowing customers to have cash loaded into the wallets so they can make purchases on e-commerce sites and transfer money, as well as convert cash to minutes.

Schulman says in a Mobile Payments Today report that Lianlian will be well positioned to bridge the gap between the limitation of paying with cash and the opportunities associated with digital commerce.

According to American Express, the Serve platform will, over time, expand the types of payments and transactions that can be made through the service.

Payments Source states the Lianlian deal follows other groundwork Amex has been building in China. In 2010, China Merchants Bank issued a dual-currency Amex card aimed at international travellers. Last year, Amex inked a deal with online payment provider Tenpay, a unit of Tencent Holdings.