Chinese Firm Didi Now Accepts Apple Pay Across its Ride-Hailing Services

[MacRumors]

Chinese ride-hailing company Didi has added Apple Pay as a payment option to the full range of its personal mobility services (via TechCrunch).

Apple's mobile payment platform can now be used to fund Didi Express, Didi Luxe, Didi Premier, and ofo, a partner bicycle rental service embedded into the main Didi app.

Image via Technode​

Support of the digital wallet adds another Apple feature to the Didi service, with customers already able to use Siri to hail a ride and book one from within the Maps app and on their Apple Watch.

In addition to Apple Pay support, the company is also adding an English language service for Didi Luxe to offer luxury limousine services through the ride-hailing platform. Didi Luxe operates in Beijing and is expected to arrive in Shanghai in the next few months.

Last year, Apple made a much-publicized $1 billion investment in Didi, earning it a place on the company's board, so the gradual inclusion of Apple services is to be expected.

The further support of Apple Pay also comes at a good time for Apple, which is seeking to boost use of the mobile payment platform in China and fend off popular rivals like Alipay and WeChat Pay.

Article Link: Chinese Firm Didi Now Accepts Apple Pay Across its Ride-Hailing Services

 

[5105973]

It would be rather ungrateful of them if they didn't.

...and that's about as much wisdom and insight into the obvious as I can muster after a 3 a.m. Preorder night.

 

[tmiw]

I feel like Apple's already lost the mobile payment battle in China even with Didi accepting it. The only way they can maybe turn that around is by buying every business in the country a credit card terminal. Even then many of them wouldn't take Apple up on that offer because their customers all use Alipay and WeChat anyway.

 

[FelixDerKater]

Is there any real loss for a company when they begin to accept Apple Pay? It seems like a no-brainer.

 

[nicho]

I feel like Apple's already lost the mobile payment battle in China even with Didi accepting it. The only way they can maybe turn that around is by buying every business in the country a credit card terminal. Even then many of them wouldn't take Apple up on that offer because their customers all use Alipay and WeChat anyway.

Apple is just piggybacking off of the efforts of UnionPay (the *only* card payment processor) to implement Quickpass (contactless) and avoid losing ground completely to WeChat/Alipay.

If Apple had partnered to integrate AliPay instead as was rumoured (which would've been a very different implementation of Apple Pay for China vs NFC) it probably would've made a sizeable dent in CUP's business. The next logical step would've been something akin to apple cash integrated with the alipay wallet, and that could have started hurting banking operations in a big way. With that in mind, I'm guessing they have a pretty sweet deal with UnionPay and don't need to make a huge push to make big bucks.