Apple Pay Expected to Launch in China by February 2016

[MacRumors]

Apple plans to launch Apple Pay in mainland China before the weeklong Spring Festival starting February 8, 2016, also known as the Chinese New Year, according to The Wall Street Journal.

The report claims Apple recently reached deals with China's big four state-run banks to launch Apple Pay, but the iPhone maker could still face regulatory hurdles in the country.

China's big four state-run commercial banks include the Bank of China, China Construction Bank, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and Agricultural Bank of China.

Alipay and Tenpay are currently the two largest electronic payment platforms in China, with nearly 64% combined market share, according to the report, citing research firm Analysys.

China's only interbank network UnionPay holds a monopoly on the country's credit and debit card processing, effectively blocking MasterCard and Visa. The state-run organization does offer some credit cards affiliated with American Express, MasterCard or Visa for use abroad.

One Chinese developer who has seen the latest beta version of Apple's mobile-operating system said logos for China's UnionPay can be found within the package. China UnionPay Co. press officials didn't respond to requests for comment.

Apple is committed to an international expansion of Apple Pay, having launched the mobile payments service in Australia and Canada last week in partnership with American Express. Apple Pay is also coming to Hong Kong, Singapore and Spain in 2016.

China has also been an oft-rumored candidate for Apple Pay. Apple CEO Tim Cook told Chinese news agency Xinhua in May that Apple "very much want to get Apple Pay in China," adding that he is "very bullish on Apple Pay in China."

Apple has registered an entity in the Shanghai free-trade zone to prepare for the launch of Apple Pay in China, the WSJ previously reported. Apple Technology Service (Shanghai) Ltd. was registered on June 10, per the Shanghai government's company registry.

Article Link: Apple Pay Expected to Launch in China by February 2016

 

[GenesisST]

Pssst.. Apple! Don't forget Visa and Mastercard in Canada, pretty please!

 

[ArneK]

Apple plans to launch Apple Pay in mainland China before the weeklong Spring Festival starting February 8, 2016, also known as the Chinese New Year, according to The Wall Street Journal.

The report claims Apple recently reached deals with China's big four state-run banks to launch Apple Pay, but the iPhone maker could still face regulatory hurdles in the country.

China's big four state-run commercial banks include the Bank of China, China Construction Bank, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and Agricultural Bank of China.

Alipay and Tenpay are currently the two largest electronic payment platforms in China, with nearly 64% combined market share, according to the report, citing research firm Analysys.

China's only interbank network UnionPay holds a monopoly on the country's credit and debit card processing, effectively blocking MasterCard and Visa. The state-run organization does offer some credit cards affiliated with American Express, MasterCard or Visa for use abroad.Apple is committed to an international expansion of Apple Pay, having launched the mobile payments service in Australia and Canada last week in partnership with American Express. Apple Pay is also coming to Hong Kong, Singapore and Spain in 2016.

China has also been an oft-rumored candidate for Apple Pay. Apple CEO Tim Cook told Chinese news agency Xinhua in May that Apple "very much want to get Apple Pay in China," adding that he is "very bullish on Apple Pay in China."

Apple has registered an entity in the Shanghai free-trade zone to prepare for the launch of Apple Pay in China, the WSJ previously reported. Apple Technology Service (Shanghai) Ltd. was registered on June 10, per the Shanghai government's company registry.

Article Link: Apple Pay Expected to Launch in China by February 2016

How is it even possible we don't have ApplePay in Europe yet (I mean everywhere in Europe!)??? I lived in China for quite a bit and I haven't seen anyone using NFC payment cards. I don't think more than 1% of the stores are even equipped to accept NFC payments...

 

[macnewbie91]

I like how Apple is expanding to China, and trying to push expansion into Australia and Canada with American Express, but we need some more merchants on board.

Fandango was a great edition to the list of Apple Pay partners, but stores like Big Lots, Johnny Rockets, Regal Cinemas, and JC Penny have been on the "coming soon" list for what seems like forever. What gives?

 

[Eidorian]

Good luck in China especially with Xaiomi there.

 

[RimasM]

Yeah. Screw the Europe, launch in China first.

 

[Thunderhawks]

Always amazing how people are upset (seriously?) about something that considering how long we live is only a blip in our lives.

Folks, you survived so far without Apple Pay and NFC!

Your Mom still loves you (I hope) and eventually Apple or Google or Samsung or Microsoft Pay will come to you
and be everywhere.

Good things come to those who wait!

 

[Popeye206]

Good luck in China especially with Xaiomi there.

What does Xaiomi got to do with this? Apple is selling well in China and this should be a huge market for ApplePay too.

 

[ptb42]

Pssst.. Apple! Don't forget Visa and Mastercard in Canada, pretty please!

Talk to your bank. They are the ones holding it up.

 

[xero9]

Pssst.. Apple! Don't forget Visa and Mastercard in Canada, pretty please!

I'm posting this in as many Apple Pay related things I can find, but previously when I tried to add my RBC MasterCard or TD Visa, I was told "The issuer does not support this card". My RBC card still does, but my TD Visa now says "An error occurred" making it seem like maybe the TD cards are now attempting to actually contact TD Canada Trust but something isn't fully set up (obviously).

 

[Baerok]

What about Poland? We are leading in the number of contactless payments in Europe. Almost every store in our country has a nfc terminal.

 

[StoneJack]

First, move into larger markets.
US, China, Japan.
Then Europe.

 

[Keane16]

How is it even possible we don't have ApplePay in Europe yet (I mean everywhere in Europe!)??? I lived in China for quite a bit and I haven't seen anyone using NFC payment cards. I don't think more than 1% of the stores are even equipped to accept NFC payments...

There are plenty of companies vying for a piece of the mobile payment pie in china:

http://www.nfcworld.com/country/china/

I imagine it's less work getting into just China (1 country), vs ~50 in Europe (local govermnments, banks etc.).

I also imagine Apple has different teams spread across the world focussing on local markets. So the people working on Apple pay China aren't the ones who will be working on Apple Pay Europe. Throw in the banks playing hard ball and it's going to be slow work.

 

[Dataexar]

Good luck in China especially with Xaiomi there.

Xiaomi is dying in China, people would rather get an older iPhone like the 4S than a Xiaomi. I see a hella more iPhones these days, even the lower class use iPhone 6. Besides, Xiaomi isn't the major player in China's mobile payment market. There are other competitors though, like Alipay and Tencent.

 

[doelcm82]

I like how Apple is expanding to China, and trying to push expansion into Australia and Canada with American Express, but we need some more merchants on board.

Fandango was a great edition to the list of Apple Pay partners, but stores like Big Lots, Johnny Rockets, Regal Cinemas, and JC Penny have been on the "coming soon" list for what seems like forever. What gives?

Updating the "PIN Pads" for each of those merchants is a project in and of itself. The company I work for is a smallish (but nationwide) retailer, and they have not yet updated their point of sale to accept chipped cards, even though the deadline has passed. They are working to do it, but there are many factors working against them, one of which is that every other retail merchant is trying to do the same thing. Getting the actual PIN Pad units is a bottleneck, and so is getting the resources from the credit card processing companies to test that the new units work with our point of sale system and our back end systems. There are always multiple projects going on that compete for resources within our small IT department, and we still have to deal with processing day-to-day sales and the little disasters that come up, while these new projects continue.

Some of the retailers that are already live with Apple Pay are probably better organized than we are (and also have bigger IT Departments), but I've worked as a consultant with enough different companies to know that these things often take more time than you'd expect.

 

[SlipperySlop]

Pssst.. Apple! Don't forget Visa and Mastercard in Canada, pretty please!

Trust me, apple would never waste their time reading the comments in this forum. 90% of them are useless moaning and groaning.

Good luck in China especially with Xaiomi there.

What does that have to do with anything. The absurdity continues.

Yeah. **** the Europe, launch in China first.

OK, we will. Just to spite you if nothing else.

Always amazing how people are upset (seriously?) about something that considering how long we live is only a blip in our lives.

Folks, you survived so far without Apple Pay and NFC!

Your Mom still loves you (I hope) and eventually Apple or Google or Samsung or Microsoft Pay will come to you
and be everywhere.

Good things come to those who wait!

Rationality is not a strong suit here. Irrationality rules here.

 

[ArtOfWarfare]

Attempting to roll Apple Pay out in China just before their New Year's isn't going to work at all...

There's so many different organizations involved - right before a major national holiday, I find it incredibly improbable that everyone will have everything ready to go.

If Apple wants it to be ready for Chinese New Year, they need it to be rolling out today, not in 10 weeks. That'll give all the merchants enough wiggle room to actually have it ready for the holiday.

 

[macnewbie91]

Updating the "PIN Pads" for each of those merchants is a project in and of itself. The company I work for is a smallish (but nationwide) retailer, and they have not yet updated their point of sale to accept chipped cards, even though the deadline has passed. They are working to do it, but there are many factors working against them, one of which is that every other retail merchant is trying to do the same thing. Getting the actual PIN Pad units is a bottleneck, and so is getting the resources from the credit card processing companies to test that the new units work with our point of sale system and our back end systems. There are always multiple projects going on that compete for resources within our small IT department, and we still have to deal with processing day-to-day sales and the little disasters that come up, while these new projects continue.

Some of the retailers that are already live with Apple Pay are probably better organized than we are (and also have bigger IT Departments), but I've worked as a consultant with enough different companies to know that these things often take more time than you'd expect.

I agree and see what you're saying.

I just don't understand why businesses haven't started upgrading their PIN pads years ago. Pizza Hut's card reader is pathetic.. It's like one of those ones you can get for $5 off of Amazon's website and it's taped to their CRT monitors. When will Pizza Hut ever get with the times?

 

[Corrode]

Even though this doesn't affect me directly, it's exciting to see Apple Pay roll out in more nations. That means greater awareness of the technology which hopefully translates to increase adoption by retailers and banks. It's 2015, we should be able to pay with the NFC in our phones, Apple or otherwise.

 

[Gasu E.]

Trust me, apple would never waste their time reading the comments in this forum. 90% of them are useless moaning and groaning.


What does that have to do with anything. The absurdity continues.


OK, we will. Just to spite you if nothing else.


Rationality is not a strong suit here. Irrationality rules here.

Highly informative comments. Thanks for playing!

 

[patjem]

What about Poland? We are leading in the number of contactless payments in Europe. Almost every store in our country has a nfc terminal.

More than Spain you think?

 

[JeffyTheQuik]

I agree and see what you're saying.

I just don't understand why businesses haven't started upgrading their PIN pads years ago. Pizza Hut's card reader is pathetic.. It's like one of those ones you can get for $5 off of Amazon's website and it's taped to their CRT monitors. When will Pizza Hut ever get with the times?

Home Depot is what surprises me... With the hack of their credit card database, I thought they'd be on the forefront of this.

 

[macnewbie91]

Home Depot is what surprises me... With the hack of their credit card database, I thought they'd be on the forefront of this.

Home Depot takes chip cards...

 

[tmiw]

Always amazing how people are upset (seriously?) about something that considering how long we live is only a blip in our lives.

Folks, you survived so far without Apple Pay and NFC!

Your Mom still loves you (I hope) and eventually Apple or Google or Samsung or Microsoft Pay will come to you
and be everywhere.

Good things come to those who wait!

I think people (at least in the US) expected a seamless experience just like with Apple's other products. Unfortunately it didn't work out that way, partly because Apple didn't expect such a huge backlash by some retailers and partly because the rest simply put off upgrading until the last second. Knowing what they know now, Apple probably would either have purchased LoopPay and included MST in their products to compensate or would have put a far greater emphasis on in-app use of Apple Pay in the US than in-store use for the first year or two.

 

[Thunderhawks]

I think people (at least in the US) expected a seamless experience just like with Apple's other products. Unfortunately it didn't work out that way, partly because Apple didn't expect such a huge backlash by some retailers and partly because the rest simply put off upgrading until the last second. Knowing what they know now, Apple probably would either have purchased LoopPay and included MST in their products to compensate or would have put a far greater emphasis on in-app use of Apple Pay in the US than in-store use for the first year or two.

There may also have been confusion in retailers minds which system to use . (The dead alternative or this)

In general as a business I would make sure that I can accept money/payment any way possible from customers.

If they'd require my business to have a person walk around with an Apple hat to collect the $$$$
it would be done