Apple Pay coming to China in time for Spring Festival in February if no more hurdles arise, reports say
China UnionPay expected to grease the wheels for introduction of Apple’s mobile-payment system but user behaviour on mainland could present a formidable challenge, pundits warn.
Apple’s much-anticipated entry into China’s booming mobile payments market could put the US technology giant on a collision course with domestic providers Alibaba Group and Tencent Holdings.
Analysts on Wednesday said the reported introduction of Apple Pay on the mainland early next year may create a more dynamic market, but it will not have a big impact on the existing industry leaders.
“The main obstacles for the wide adoption of Apple Pay are current user behaviour on the mainland and its lack of a merchant ecosystem,” Forrester Research analyst Charlie Dai said.
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“Alibaba’s Alipay and Tenpay, the mobile payment service of Tencent used on WeChat, are very popular in large cities because of the convenience those platforms provide.”
Gartner analyst Sandy Shen added a more telling disadvantage for Apple Pay in the country: The majority of smartphone users are on Android devices.
Apple Pay is expected to launch on the mainland by February, following deals Apple has made with the big four state-owned banks, a Wall Street Journal report said, citing people familiar with the discussions.
