Alipay, the mobile payment system offered by Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, will soon be accepted in Apple retail stores across China, making it the first third-party mobile payment system to be accepted at brick-and-mortar Apple stores anywhere in the world (via Reuters).
The partnership with Apple was announced in a statement on Wednesday by Alibaba affiliate Ant Financial, which runs Alipay. Apple's regional China website, iTunes Store, and App Store have accepted Alipay for over a year, but Apple has now agreed to accept Alipay payments across all of its 41 local retail stores in the country, where Apple Pay has thus far received a lukewarm reception.
Alipay is China's most used mobile payment platform, but Alibaba is looking to keep one step ahead of Tencent Holdings' rival digital payment system, which is integrated into hugely popular chat app WeChat.
Reports of discussions about a potential partnership between Apple and Alibaba date back to November 2014, when the idea of integrating Alibaba's Alipay with Apple Pay was first considered as a more comprehensive mobile payments solution for the Chinese market.
The partnership with Apple was announced in a statement on Wednesday by Alibaba affiliate Ant Financial, which runs Alipay. Apple's regional China website, iTunes Store, and App Store have accepted Alipay for over a year, but Apple has now agreed to accept Alipay payments across all of its 41 local retail stores in the country, where Apple Pay has thus far received a lukewarm reception.
Alipay is China's most used mobile payment platform, but Alibaba is looking to keep one step ahead of Tencent Holdings' rival digital payment system, which is integrated into hugely popular chat app WeChat.
Reports of discussions about a potential partnership between Apple and Alibaba date back to November 2014, when the idea of integrating Alibaba's Alipay with Apple Pay was first considered as a more comprehensive mobile payments solution for the Chinese market.
Related Roundup: Apple Pay
Tags: China, Apple retail
4 comments
Twitter's API changes went live today, disabling key features for third-party apps like Tweetbot and Twitterific.
The new API removes timeline streaming, preventing third-party apps from...
Verizon and Apple last week announced a partnership that provides six free months of Apple Music service to new and existing customers with a Verizon Unlimited plan, and as of today, Verizon...
Apple's second-generation iPhone X, and a widely expected 6.5-inch model dubbed the iPhone X Plus, will both be compatible with the Apple Pencil, according to Taiwanese publication Economic Daily...
Apple today seeded the eighth beta of an upcoming iOS 12 update to developers for testing purposes, just a few days after seeding the seventh beta and more than two months after introducing the new...
Apple will release a new MacBook Air at the end of the third quarter, according to Taiwanese research firm TrendForce. That lines up with either September or October, depending on how the wording is...
On August 15, 1998, Apple officially released the first iMac, the candy-colored gumdrop-shaped iMac G3, launching a desktop machine that has continued to be updated and revised over the years.
...
Apple will earn its two trillion dollar market cap through its services business, an augmented reality headset, and an Apple Car, according to reputable Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who now works for...
Before every new iPhone release, we're often inundated with rumors, part leaks, mockups, and dummy models, giving us a clear picture of what to expect when the new devices come out.
This...
