Apple Pushing to Launch Apple Pay in China

The Wall Street Journal reported today that Apple is still jumping through the hoops of Chinese government regulation in hopes it will allow its electronic-payment service to go live by spring of 2016. But in a country where all financial services are overseen by the government, Apple is entering a completely new world. Selling iPhones in China is child’s play compared with the state-run financial oversight required in payments.

UnionPay, a payments processor in China that is government-run, has a monopoly on credit card processing in China, UnionPay. This is another potential hurdle that Apple will have to overcome in order to get Apple Pay into the Chinese market. Many companies have tried and failed to enter the Chinese market, while others have chosen to “make a deal with the devil,” and gain access. The Wall Street Journal article asserts that perhaps Apple will also have to make some kind of a deal in the form of a partnership with a Chinese company in order to pull it off. What are your thoughts? Will Apple be able to gain access to this highly coveted market of electronic-payments in China?

Posted by Corey Dutton, Private Money Lender