Alibaba and Apple in Talks Over China-Focused Payments Partnership

[MacRumors]

An Alibaba executive said today that the Chinese e-commerce company and Apple are currently in talks over a partnership to provide a payments solution for China, reports The Wall Street Journal. The comments were shared by Alibaba Executive Vice Chairman Joseph Tsai, who also noted that the partnership would focus on Apple's presence in China and that the details are still being worked out.

A partnership between both companies could potentially see Alibaba's Alipay electronic payments service integrate with Apple Pay to provide a comprehensive mobile payments solution for the Chinese market. The comments from Tsai come weeks after Alibaba founder Jack Ma noted that he was interesting in teaming up Apple in the payments sector.

Earlier this year, Alipay overtook PayPal to become the largest mobile payments platform in the world with an estimated $150 billion in transactions processed in 2013. Alibaba also noted that the service has 300 million registered users and 100 million mobile users. Integrating Alipay with Apple Pay would be the latest move by Apple to expand its presence in China, which has grown over the past few years. Last year, Apple struck a deal with country's biggest carrier China Mobile and has opened a number of new retail stores in populated areas like Shanghai and Shenzhen.

Article Link: Alibaba and Apple in Talks Over China-Focused Payments Partnership

 

[ciaocibai]

Exciting news

Considering Alipay is awesome and widely accepted for goods and services around China, I think this is very good news. If they could get Alipay and Unionpay on board they'd cover the vast majority of the market. Very keen to see how this develops.

 

[Kissaragi]

Any company thats beating paypal gets my full support!

 

[brianvictor7]

I work in the banking industry. Anything that can help modernize money transactions is a welcome thing to see.

 

[discuit]

Last year, Apple struck a deal with country's biggest carrier China Mobile and has opened a number of new retail stores in populated areas like Shanghai and Shenzhen

Well, I would hope they're not opening retail stores in the wilderness.

 

[pietrov]

Selling credit card numbers to China???

 

[Chatter]

Could be HUGE for

 

[tonyunreal]

I really hope Apple can strike a deal with Alibaba, the alternatives to Alipay in China is way way inferior.

 

[MacTCE]

This will be a huge boost for ApplePay. Glad to see this is happening.

 

[CB1234]

I wonder if MCX are in talks as well with the Chinese to role out CurrentC in China....

/s

 

[JeffyTheQuik]

I think the deal is very near being finalized.

They usually don't talk much until then.

 

[TsunamiTheClown]

If Apple gets ApplePay inserted into the Alibaba sales Juggernaut then its GG for Amazon, Paypal and anyone else who wants to play in China.

 

[0xyMoron]

Just incase some of you miss his comment on first page of every article.

Ughhh China

 

[dontwalkhand]

I wonder if MCX are in talks as well with the Chinese to role out CurrentC in China....

/s

Alipay is very similar to CurrentC, using QR Codes as payment mechanisms.

 

[Fzang]

Hope it will help bridge China with the West. Currently, it's almost impossible to deposit money to your Alipay account with a Western payment method such as Visa.

 

[brianvictor7]

Definitely a slow news day when an article has been up for a few hours with only a handful of posts. Seriously, this is good news for us. Modernization of the payment system!

 

[Kwill]

If Alibaba inks a deal, perhaps they will finally be able to purchase a decent logo.

 

[CB1234]

Alipay is very similar to CurrentC, using QR Codes as payment mechanisms.

Do you know if alipay is widely accepted??

 

[iososx]

Sure are lots of naive Apple devotees eager to get in bed with those just waiting for a chance to take advantage, invading what little privacy that remains. Its mind numbing.

 

[HenryDJP]

Any company thats beating paypal gets my full support!

What issue do you have with Paypal? Actually I wished it would've expanded more into the retail sector rather than just being online. It's a very convenient way to pay for stuff.

 

[Parasprite]

What issue do you have with Paypal? Actually I wished it would've expanded more into the retail sector rather than just being online. It's a very convenient way to pay for stuff.

It's great as a buyer.

It's absolute hell as a seller.

 

[winston1236]

What issue do you have with Paypal? Actually I wished it would've expanded more into the retail sector rather than just being online. It's a very convenient way to pay for stuff.

My issue with them is they masquerade as a transaction processing company and then act like an escrow.

Horrendous for a seller.

 

[serendip7]

cautiously optimistic

I would really like a tie up between Apple and Alibaba. I have a very large position in Apple...

Unfortunately UnionPay currently dominates the mobile payments in China and since UnionPay is state run... I really doubt the Chinese government will allow Apple to get a significant slice of the pie. The government want to keep tabs on their citizens. I doubt they'll give up having control of the purchase history information of their people.. especially if mobile payment really takes off.

 

[dontwalkhand]

I would really like a tie up between Apple and Alibaba. I have a very large position in Apple...

Unfortunately UnionPay currently dominates the mobile payments in China and since UnionPay is state run... I really doubt the Chinese government will allow Apple to get a significant slice of the pie. The government want to keep tabs on their citizens. I doubt they'll give up having control of the purchase history information of their people.. especially if mobile payment really takes off.

UnionPay is also partners with Discover, a non-Apple Pay partner as of late. Discover cards work where UnionPay is accepted, and many businesses only take UnionPay due to low fees. So if you want to use a CC in China, you pretty much have to take a Discover card with you.

 

[HenryDJP]

It's great as a buyer.

It's absolute hell as a seller.

If you're referring to the fees they charge for sellers I absolutely agree.

----------

My issue with them is they masquerade as a transaction processing company and then act like an escrow.

Horrendous for a seller.

As I said to the other poster who mimicked your words, I wholeheartedly agree it's terrible to be a seller working with Paypal.