Samsung Pay partners with Alipay of China

Samsung Electronics announced a partnership with Alipay, the most used payment service in China.

Targeting the surging Chinese mobile population, Alipay will be one of payment methods available for use on Samsung Pay, the tech giant’s mobile payments system.

Samsung Pay users have to input their Alipay account details into Samsung Pay.

Then, users can select the Alipay QR code option on Samsung Pay, which can be scanned by a retailer for payment.

Samsung said that the partnership will boost its presence in China.

Samsung Pay launched in China in March, while U.S. rival Apple Pay was launched in February.

“After launching in March, Samsung Pay has been well received,” said Rhee In-jong, executive vice president at Samsung Electronics, “We will make efforts to facilitate the use of our mobile payment system in a safe and convenient manner.”

Alipay has 450 million users around the world and processes 170 million transactions a day. It is run by Alibaba affiliate Ant Financial.

“Alipay covers the vast majority of online payment use cases. At the same time, it also developed a variety of offline uses, including restaurants, supermarkets, convenience stores, taxis, hospitals, and public services,” said Fan Zhiming, president of Ant Financial Business.

“The technology integration facilitated by this partnership with Samsung Electronics will make the payment process faster and more convenient when users make payments at stores where Alipay is accepted,” he said.

Alipay is currently available at about 600,000 brick and mortar shops in China, and in over one million taxis.

BY PARK EUN-JEE [park.eunjee@joongang.co.kr]