“China this month became the fifth country where consumers can use smartphones to pay with Apple Pay, and Chinese shoppers quickly embraced the Apple Inc. payment system,” Frank Tong reports for Internet Retailer.
“In the first two days after the Feb. 18 launch, 3 million consumers linked their bank cards to Apple Pay according to China Merchants Bank, one of 19 Chinese banks involved in the rollout,” Tong reports. “The payment method can be used to pay in stores with compatible terminals and in mobile apps that link to Apple Pay.”
“Apple did say it is quite happy with the launch,” Tong reports. “‘I would rate our first-day performance as 1,000, if the full score is 100,’ Jennifer Bailey, vice president of Apple Pay, said at a mid-February press conference in China. Apple also has rolled out Apple Pay in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia.”
“Apple says the 19 Chinese banks offering Apple Pay, including such major institutions as Bank of China and the Agricultural bank of China, represent about 80% of bank cardholders in China,” Tong reports. “In addition, 16 retail chains, restaurants and online retailers in China have begun accepting Apple Pay. They include Starbucks, McDonald’s, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Circle K and the French department store chain Carrefour. Almost all of those merchants have launched promotions for Apple Pay users. For example, Starbucks offered a 15 yuan ($2.30) discount to Apple Pay users who spend 65 yuan ($10) or more.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Wait, incentives to use Apple Pay? Gee, what a great idea!
Apple, give us a reason to use Apple Pay beyond looking like tech dorks in front of the line at the register. What’s the incentive to use Apple Pay? There is none besides looking like a flaming nerd. As if Apple doesn’t have any money. That, inexplicably, is how they approach Apple Pay. Hello, Tim? Eddy? Talk to some people who actually go to stores and shop for things, please.
Incentivize its use! Give Apple Pay users a percentage of every dollar spent via Apple Pay to spend at Apple Stores. Something. Anything! Get people used to using it first. Sheesh. It’s really not that difficult. It really isn’t. — MacDailyNews, August 6, 2015
SEE ALSO:
Apple Pay is crushing Samsung Pay – February 27, 2016
Apple Pay will help China’s mammoth state banks crush Alibaba offline – February 18, 2016
Apple Pay to go live in China on February 18th – February 16, 2016
Apple Pay support reaches 1,000 U.S. banks and credit unions – February 5, 2016
Apple Pay locations reach 2 million, with Chick-Fil-A to come – February 4, 2016
Apple Pay coming to ATMs from Bank Of America and Wells Fargo – January 28, 2016
Apple Pay picks up 58 new US card issuers, approaches 1,000 total banks and credit unions – January 5, 2016
Pay Finders app for finding Apple Pay locations reports 750% increase in users in two days – December 28, 2015
Why Apple’s revolutionary Apple Pay is going to be absolutely enormous – December 18, 2015
Apple Pay to take on Tencent’s WeChat Wallet and Alipay in China – December 18, 2015
Apple partners with UnionPay to launch Apple Pay in China – December 17, 2015
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Readers “Fred Mertz” and “Arline M.” for the heads up.]