China Unicom's (CHU) Anhui Branch, Agricultural Bank of China Anhui and SmartPay have together developed "China Unicom Toll Stations" for China's rural areas.

These "toll stations" allow registered SmartPay dealers to facilitate mobile transactions, including topping-up China Unicom prepaid mobile phone users. The increased distribution and ease of access to wireless networks for end customers is aimed at narrowing the information gap between urban and rural areas.

At the recently held 4th Plenary Meeting of 16th Party Congress in China, clear goals were set to increase rural earnings and bring the "information highway" to rural areas. This drive has opened up large new potential markets for mobile operators, as well as new challenges. Through SmartPay's "toll-stations", mobile operators can rapidly deploy pre-paid top-up and mobile payment services to allow rural residents access to service faster and more conveniently.

SmartPay has been a leader in electronic payment that enables Chinese consumers and merchants to send and receive money anywhere, anytime, and has built on its reputation for service leadership since its formation in 2003.

"Toll Stations" can be established by any Unicom mobile phone user with a proper identification and a special account at ABC. The "Toll Station" owner can then top up fellow customers and earn commissions on a per- transaction basis, relying on SmartPay's mobile payments platform linking the banks, telecom operators and user. SmartPay provides systematic support for the service including call center, training service, system support, business demo and marketing.