Apple and Chinese commerce site Alibaba are currently negotiating a partnership to provide a payment platform for China, according to the latter's executive vice chairman, Joseph Tsai. Tsai tells the
Wall Street Journal that the partnership would revolve around Apple's presence in the country. Details are still in the air, but it could potentially see Alibaba's Alipay electronic payment service integrate in some way with Apple Pay, creating an encompassing mobile payment platform.
Although largely unknown in the West, Alipay saw roughly $150 billion in transactions in 2013 alone, and has about 300 million users in total, of which 100 million are mobile. Its growth has allowed it to overtake PayPal as the world's biggest mobile payment platform.
Help from Apple might solidify this position, while giving that company its
desired foothold in China.
Apple Pay has been limited to the US since its launch on October 20th. Plans are underway to expand that reach, but are complicated not just by talks with partners but by the different regulatory systems in each region.
Top