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Apple gearing up for rollout of Apple Pay to China with $13M investment

Apple is one step closer in its plans to take Apple Pay into the company’s second-largest market, China. The WSJ reports that Apple has created a company in the Shanghai free-trade zone specifically to operate its Apple Pay business in the country, and seeded it with $13.4M of capital.

The Apple Inc. entity, named Apple Technology Service (Shanghai) Ltd., was registered in the city’s free-trade zone on June 10, according to the Shanghai government’s company-registration database. Its business operations include technical consulting, services and system integration in the field of payments, the database showed.

With China already a bigger market for Apple than Europe, and looking set to overtake the USA in size, the potential for Apple Pay in the country is huge. Mobile payment is already widely accepted in China, with more than 300 million people using Alipay, the mobile wallet service created by ecommerce giant Alibaba … 

Apple still needs regulatory approval to launch in the country, and it has been suggested that a partnership with Alibaba could facilitate a faster rollout. Tim Cook confirmed late last year that he had been in talks with the company. Cook said that he “very much” wants to get Apple Pay into China and is “very bullish” on its prospects there.

Apple Pay meanwhile continues its rapid expansion at home, with 40 more banks and credit unions added just a few days ago. The UK also saw Halifax and Lloyds signing-up, bringing the total number of UK banks to 11.

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Comments

  1. Christian Fadel - 9 years ago

    I just don’t understand why Apple doesn’t want to make Apple Pay available in Canada… The market is already geared up for the technology.

    • because of our greedy banks :)

    • surfingarbo - 9 years ago

      I think Apple do want to make it available in Canada. Mathieu is likely correct – It’s probably negotiating with the banks. I don’t see any reason why Apple would not want to expand their services into any country as soon as it’s ready.

      That said, hurry up guys! Us non-USA people want Apple Pay too!

  2. so tired of Apple’s late preference for China… it’s kinda like they dont give a F about the rest of the world, i know it’s their biggest market now but i doubt you can find as many contactless places to pay in China as in Europe

    • chrisl84 - 9 years ago

      I doubt you find as many people in Europe as China…..Apple wants users not payment terminals.

      • you may have a lot of people but if they can’t find a place with contactless terminals, what’s the point?

      • chrisl84 - 9 years ago

        Apple doesn’t care, they want people buying iPones and if in China they can market Apple Pay as a sales pitch they could care less if users will have lots of terminals to use it at. There are literally TWICE as many bodies in China that can buy iPhones compared to Europe.

  3. I don’t mean to b*tch about it but… hello? What about Europe? We have contactless payment terminals everywhere and are ready. Come on Apple.

  4. Rexroth. (@rexrothX) - 9 years ago

    Apple is facing some fierce competition in China. Alibaba and Tencent mobile payment solutions are already widely accepted.

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Avatar for Ben Lovejoy Ben Lovejoy

Ben Lovejoy is a British technology writer and EU Editor for 9to5Mac. He’s known for his op-eds and diary pieces, exploring his experience of Apple products over time, for a more rounded review. He also writes fiction, with two technothriller novels, a couple of SF shorts and a rom-com!


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