APPLE PAY ENTERING CHINA

When you live in China, you don’t have to worry if you forget to bring your wallet with you, but make sure you bring your Smartphone and you are registered with an app named Alipay. “Ali” isn’t this name familiar? Yes, it’s part of Jack Ma’s Alibaba kingdom. Currently Apple announced that they would launch its Apple Pay in China. How well will Apple Pay grab the Chinese Market?

Entering China

Entering China, Apple Pay won’t be alone. Together with UnionPay (state-affiliated network that issues payment cards for the country’s domestic banks), it will try to penetrate the Chinese market.

Based on research, Chinese consumers spend up to 9 trillion yuan (about $1.4 trillion) using mobile payment apps this year, and it’s keep increasing. Of course, it’s a good opportunity for other platform to enter this market, as it’s currently let’s say, oligopolized by Ma’s brilliant Alipay, followed by Tencent’s WeChat Wallet.

The WeChat Wallet

The Payment Process Using Alipay

I should say, the path for Apple will be a little bit rough to beat those existing platforms. Why? Let me explain how do we undergo our daily life in China.

To be honest with you, we are deeply spoiled by internet based apps, moreover Jack Ma’s local Alibaba platform: TaoBao. Believe it or not, you can find anything that you want to buy on TaoBao, yes ANYTHING! How about the price? Some of them are cheaper than the common stores. That’s why people love TaoBao. Before Alipay arrived, we used the e-banking to pay, but after Alipay arrived, it did change our life… Everything becomes very very convenient.

TaoBao

We do not only use TaoBao, but almost everything here has already had its internet based platform. Delivery order, taxi order, etc. and when you connect them with Alipay, you can get discount from small discount to huge discount. For example, I bought dumplings for my lunch and they were delivered to the office. I supposed to pay RMB24 (around US$3.65), but because I paid online (you can use Alipay or WeChat Wallet), I only had to pay RMB 11 (around US$1.67).

Observer said that for this reason, Apple Pay is unlikely to achieve the same scale as its Chinese competitors. But, it doesn’t stop there actually. Apple is the brand that Chinese people like the most. Apple can take the “user experience” as its advantage to grab Chinese market. WeChat and Alipay’s offline payment services are seamless, but they require you to download their app. Apple Pay, meanwhile, just requires hovering an iPhone over a payment terminal.

Chinese Craze for Apple

I don’t wanna say all Chinese people, but most of them, in the name of appearance, whether they’re rich or not, they’ll try to buy Apple’s product. It may be hard for Apple Pay to steal Alipay’s users, but it’s the perfect tool for a day of luxury shopping for Chinese more status-conscious consumers.