It was first reported a couple of months ago that Apple Pay would soon go live in China. The company itself confirmed later that its mobile payments service will be available to users in China by early 2016. Latest reports indicate that the service has proven to be a hit with users in the People’s Republic. As many as 3 million cards were activated on Apple Pay within the first 2 days of its launch.
China Merchants Bank reported that more than 3 million cards were activated on the service after it went live in the country. China Merchants Bank is one of the largest financial institutions in the People’s Republic. Its customers alone accounted for 1 million of the total activations in the first 2 days.
The report also mentions that on average Apple Pay users in China spent about $15 each during the first 2 days. The activation figures are set to rise as majority of the banks that issue bulk of the UnionPay cards in the country have committed to support Apple Pay.
It’s not like Apple Pay won’t face any competition in China, though. Aside from local competition, Samsung is moving into the country with Samsung Pay. Its service is already in beta testing with formal launched expected within a month or so. It will really be interesting to see which service customers in one of the world’s most lucrative markets prefer more.
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