Apple has revealed that it has struck a deal with the bankcard network China UnionPay to start rolling out the mobile payments service Apple Pay in China “as soon as early 2016”.
China will be the fifth country to receive the service, following the United States last year and the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia this year. In the East Asian country, Apple Pay will work with UnionPay’s QuickPass, one of the country’s existing mobile payments services.
Describing China as “an extremely important market for Apple”, Eddy Cue, the corporation’s Senior Vice President of Internet Software and Services, enthused that, thanks also to “support from 15 of China’s leading banks, users will soon have a convenient, private and secure payment experience.”
Though Apple Pay is yet to be suitably tested and certified as required by Chinese regulators, it is in compliance with the country’s relevant mobile payment and financial industry standards.