Alipay and WeChat Pay are the two most popular mobile payment products in the market in China. Now, UnionPay is making a threat with mobile QuickPass and partnerships with ApplePay and SamsungPay.
China UnionPay and Apple announced a partnership on 18 December 2015 to bring Apple Pay, which transforms mobile payment with an easy, secure and private way to pay, to China. China UnionPay cardholders will be able to easily add their bank cards to Apple Pay on iPhone, Apple Watch and iPad, providing added convenience and security to everyday shopping.
China UnionPay and Samsung on the same day announced the cooperation on Samsung Pay. With Samsung mobile phones, UnionPay cardholders in China will soon be able to enjoy the fast and secure mobile payment service.
Online payment and mobile payment market competition has become more intensified with mobile internet penetrating further and mobile business broadening this year. UnionPay recently launched QuickPass payment collaborating with more than 20 banks in China to deliver safer and more convenient mobile payment for users.
Users can generate a QuickPass card on mobile banking apps as long as their mobile phone is equiped with NFC, which can be identified by POS machines enabled with “QuickPass”. Users don’t need to unlock the screen, scan the QR code, or open certain apps compared to Alipay and WeChat. As long as users activate the phone screen and locate it close to the POS machine, the payment will be processed with a notification beep, which takes about three to five seconds.
Over 20 banks in China including Agricultural Bank of China, China Industrial & Commercial Bank, Bank of China, China Construction Bank, Bank of Communication, Savings Bank, China Commercial Bank and other can generate QuickPass card on mobile apps. Tens of thousands of retail stores such as Carrefour, McDonald’s, Starbucks and other 25 well-known national chain businesses also support the service. Besides, users can enjoy exclusive promotions on these offline stores.
UnionPay aims at not only domestic market but also overseas retailers. In 2015, the acceptance experience of UnionPay QuickPass in overseas markets has been optimized substantially. Currently, there are approximately 100,000 POS terminals in Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan, Korea, Australia and Singapore accepting QuickPass, while also supporting the mobile QuickPass newly launched by UnionPay on Dec. 12, 2015. On strength of the rapid expansion of its acceptance scope, the overseas transaction volume of UnionPay QuickPass this November is nearly 10 times of that at the beginning of this year.
Alipay and TenPay accounted for 89.1% third-party mobile payment market in the third quarter this year and Alipay (69.9%) led the market with an overwhelming strength basing on Alibaba according to iResearch. By expanding mobile payment scenarios such as utility costs and offline payments, Alipay continues to enhance user stickiness.
Also read: China E-Payment Insights 2015