Samsung is preparing to launch its mPayment service in China, according to new reports. While no official announcement has been made, word is spreading that Samsung Pay is expected to see its China debut in Q1 of 2016.
It isn’t yet clear how that is going to work, given that China’s domestic market features tough restrictions against foreign competitors and is currently dominated by the homegrown Alipay platform. But Samsung certainly isn’t the first company to start prying its way into the country; Apple also recently registered a Chinese subsidiary that appears to be related to Apple Pay, and PayPal has also reportedly been working on an e-commerce system for the country, which could act as a stepping stone into domestic mPayments in the future.
Of course, while the sources of the Samsung Pay rumors are unknown, they could simply be part of the Samsung hype machine; the company has been keen to claim success in it US launch without disclosing how many users it attained in its first month in the country, and it also appears to have exaggerated the platform’s success in its own home market of South Korea (though it may still be considered a success there). Still, it’s possible that Samsung’s negotiations with Chinese regulators are ongoing, and that a Q1 launch may indeed be the current goal, even if no official announcements have been made.
In any case, all of the major mPayment platforms are attempting to expand around the world, with Apple Pay having launched in Canada earlier this week via American Express support, and Samsung Pay expected to reach the UK and Spain next year in Q1 as well.
Sources: International Business Times, SamMobile
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