Mobile payments aren't so big in the west because they aren't so necessary. Almost every shop in the USA takes cards, the same isn't true in china or many developing markets, but everyone has a phone so let's use the camera and QR codes to get around our lack of infrastructure.
There's something else going on as well, though. People in China will now use Alipay/WeChat to pay at (for example) restaurants even though they have a bank card, and the restaurant can take bank cards. The restaurants increasingly have specialised hardware (maybe part of the same POS terminal that takes bank cards) and aren't using a smartphone to process customers' mobile payments.
True, but is that anymore convenient than card tap? Also, We are seeing QR payments happening in the states also (like at Starbucks) though I honestly don't see the point.
I've not seen contactless card payments in China. I imagine both businesses and consumers would be worried about fraud. Quick payments with a mobile wallet (where the retailer scans a dynamic QR code on your phone) feel safer, as you need to explicitly go to that screen, and you get immediate notification on any transaction on your account.
