Apple Pay to launch in China next year

By Park Sae-jin Posted : December 18, 2015, 14:07 Updated : December 18, 2015, 14:07

Expample of using Apple Pay service    [Courtesy of Apple]



Apple and China UnionPay have announced a partnership to bring Apple Pay to China by early 2016. Apple announced Thursday.

Apple Pay will allow China UnionPay service users to add their bank cards onto Apple Pay using their iPhone, Apple Watch and iPad. China Union Pay had issued more than 5 million cards over the world.

According to Apple’s statement, the service is being reviewed and is undergoing regulatory tests by the Chinese authorities to confirm that the service is compatible with “applicable national mobile payment and financial industry standards in China."

The rollout of mobile payment system in China will be of huge importance as the country has second largest economy in the world. Mobile payment competitors in China are Tencent and Alibaba. Samsung Pay has not expanded its business to China yet.

Apple Pay launched in the U.S in October last year and its users can use the service in offline stores as well as online. The service also launched in U.K five months ago with major banks and credit card providers on board.

The service is also available in Canada and Australia, while Singapore, Hong Kong and Spain will have access to the service next year.

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