BEIJING (AP) — Apple Inc. has launched its smartphone-based payment system in China where the electronic payments market is already dominated by an arm of e-commerce giant Alibaba.
Apple said Apple Pay was available in China from Thursday and could be used by 19 banks, "numerous merchants" and app developers. Apple's electronic payment system started in the United States in October 2014 and has since spread to Britain, Canada and Australia.
In China, Apple is working with the country's state-owned credit card processor, China UnionPay.
Apple Pay is a late arrival in a Chinese electronic payments market dominated by Alipay, which is a part of Alibaba Group.
The system will allow UnionPay cardholders to make payments via Apple iPhones, Apple Watches and iPads.