More than likely you have heard Apple’s big announcement that they will be launching Apple Pay early next year with China UnionPay. Not to be outdone, Samsung announced the launch of Samsung Pay during the same timeframe. As reported on The Verge:
Subject to testing and regulatory validation, Samsung Pay will be available to UnionPay cardholders in early 2016. UnionPay is China’s bankcard association and its collaboration is a prerequisite for bringing any new form of mobile payments to the country. With UnionPay’s cooperation, Samsung smartphones will allow Chinese users to manage their credit and debit cards on the device and make payments using established, QuickPass-branded NFC point-of-sale terminals.
The timing is very important to both Apple and Samsung. They will want to be in market in advance of the very important Chinese New Year on February 8th.
Apple’s market lead over Samsung in China may provide an advantage.
Overview by Sarah Grotta, Director, Debit Advisory Service at Mercator Advisory Group
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