No 1 Micropayments

A micropayment is a financial transaction involving a very small sum of money and usually one that occurs online.

According to Forbes, Internet users in the West now pay small fees for virtual goods from the Apple iTunes store and for games like Candy Crush. But before they were popular in the US, these mini-payments were widely used in China.

In China, tech companies would offer their games and web services for free, and then charge small amounts of money for individual pieces of content – such as a virtual sword to help a gamer reach the next level, a new outfit for a virtual avatar, or a new ring tone for your cell phone.

Chinese tech giant, Tencent, now one of the most successful companies, built its empire on such mini transactions.

Visitor try the Tencent games in front of Tencent's booth at an exhibition on Oct 17, 2014. [Photo/CFP]