Apple Pay in China: Payment system to be rolled out to new countries including France

More banks in Canada are also rumoured to be getting access to the phone- and watch-based pay

Andrew Griffin
Tuesday 16 February 2016 13:15 GMT
Comments
Ozzie Smith uses Apple Pay at the Home Run Derby at Great American Ball Park on July 13, 2015 in Cincinnati, Ohio
Ozzie Smith uses Apple Pay at the Home Run Derby at Great American Ball Park on July 13, 2015 in Cincinnati, Ohio (Getty Images)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Apple Pay is about to launch in China, according to reports, and could be coming to more countries too.

The company is set to turn on its payment system in the biggest country in the world on Thursday morning, according to what appears to be a leaked message from a bank worker there. The timing appears to have been shown in a chat from Guangfa Bank’s public WeChat account.

Apple could also be bringing its payment system to France and more banks in Canada, according to other reports.

At the moment, Apple Pay is limited to the US, UK, Australia and Canada. In those countries it offers people a way of using their phones or Apple Watches instead of their debit or credit cards, as well as giving a way of paying online.

Apple has long been expected to bring the technology to China, where it has also been looking to increase its share of the market in devices like phones. Reports last year indicated that the company had come to an agreement with the country’s biggest banks, and that it would be launching early in 2016.

How to use Apple Pay

Videos are already being shared online of working Apply Pay payments in China. It isn’t clear that the videos are genuine, but it may be that the company is already opening up the system to some users as a test.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in