Samsung Pay Launches in China

Samsung Pay has at last launched in China. The mobile payment service was launched this week in cooperation with China UnionPay, the country’s sole domestic bank card company.

At its launch, Samsung Pay supports payment cards from numerous banks, including China CITIC Bank, China Everbright Bank, China Merchants Bank, and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, among others. And Samsung says that further support is on the way for banks including Bank of China and Bank of Beijing.

Samsung Pay is the second major foreign mPayment service to begin operation in China, following in the footsteps of Apple Pay, which launched last month. There is considerable interest in how the mPayment platform will fare in the market: Many analysts had low expectations for Apple Pay ahead of its launch, since China’s own domestic mPayment platforms, such as Alipay, were already commonplace. But Apple Pay proved to be a great success in the days following its launch, though part of that could be explained by the Chinese marketplace’s marked enthusiasm for Apple’s iPhones, whereas the Samsung brand may not carry as much cachet.

In any case, Samsung Pay is coming out of the gate with a strong base of support from China’s banks, and can be expected to put up a strenuous fight for marketshare.