MasterCard is expecting significant growth in China’s credit card transaction market, with e-commerce potentially helping to open up the country to foreign competitors.
Speaking to Reuters, MasterCard Asia Pacific co-president Ling Hai suggested that China is moving toward opening up its domestic transactions market, and that when this process unfolds, it will be “a game-changer” that “will contribute a great deal in terms of spending and volume.” Of course, there is no official timeline for such a move yet, and the domestic UnionPay continues to dominate the transaction market, with Alibaba the major player in e-commerce and, increasingly, mPayments via Alipay.
Other payments companies are getting more interested in China, too. PayPal is reportedly working on a cross-border e-commerce solution for the country, which would presumably also help position the company to take advantage of increasing domestic opportunities going forward. Apple, meanwhile, has registered a new subsidiary in China that appears to be related to Apple Pay, suggesting that it could see a future for its mPayment platform in the country.
For now, though, it’s a closed market. But that doesn’t mean the multinational payments players can’t position themselves for changes, especially with the digital revolution transforming payments industries the world over, including China.
Source: Reuters
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