September 6 -- China Mobile (00941.HK) may have indirectly obtained a third-party electronic payment license, reports Shanghai Securities Journal.

Union Mobile Pay, in which China Mobile (0941.HK) held a stake in, was included in the list of 13 companies granted licenses by The People’s Bank of China in the second round of approvals.

There are currently a total of 40 companies which had third-party electronic payment licenses. Industry insiders are predicting a numer of mergers and acquisitions by the three mobile operators in the near future as time is needed to obtain approval for a third-party electronic payment license.

Union Mobile Pay, founded in 2003 by China Mobile and China Union Pay, had more than 400 million users and had handled a total of 30 billion yuan worth of transactions by the end 2010.

China Telecom had established Tianyi E-Commerce in March 2011, while China Unicom (600050,0762.HK) had set up Unicom Woyi Payment Internet Technology. China Mobile set up China Mobile E-Commerce in July.

The above payment companies set up by the three mobile operators are in the process of applying for the licenses, according to industry experts.

According to Li Yi, secretary general of the China Mobile Internet Industry Alliance, the participation of telecom operators in the electronic payment business is inevitable as the operators are an important channel for mobile payment.

Separately, Zhou Ye, president of China PnR, a third-party payment enterprise, said the company is looking to acquire companies in order to expand its business.