Apple Pay in China: The iPhone Maker to Partner with UnionPay

The Apple services are popular around the world. The company managed to make its iPhone lineup one of the most demanded smartphones in many countries. It brought the Apple Watch, iPod touch and new iPad Pro to international markets and is working on expanding the use of Apple Pay service. Experts are sure that Apple Pay in China could be available as soon as February 2016.

There are many payment systems customers use. Apple Pay is one of the youngest systems introduced in the market. The company released it a year ago. At first, only U.S. customers with iPhone could pay via Apple Pay. Now users from Canada, the UK and Australia are also able to checkout using Apple Pay service.

The news about Apple Pay China market extension isn’t surprising. The ‘fruit’ giant is highly popular in this Asian country and this is proved by high iPhone sales. Recent reports assure that Apple has reached agreement with UnionPay to bring Apple Pay to China. The Cupertino-based company would be able to use point-of-sales network created by UnionPay in this part of the world.

The agreement hasn’t been finalized yet. It is rumored that both companies are waiting for banks approval since a lot of banks in China are anxious about Apple fees they should pay in order to support Apple Pay service [here is how to set up Apple Pay].

While U.S. merchants are paying 2 percent fees for each transaction made via credit / debit card [Apple is receiving 0.15 percent from the 2 percent] – merchants in China are paying 0.38 percent fees per each transaction and giving nearly half of the fee to Apple is what worries local banks.

Previous rumors stated that Apple Pay could come to China in February 2016. At least the company is ready to launch its service in this country. The China market has to decide now.