Apple will begin accepting Alipay, a third-party mobile and online payment platform, at its local Chinese stores. The tech giant will accept Alipay payment across its 41 brick-and-mortar retail stores in China.
While Apple’s China website, iTunes store and App Store have been accepting Alipay for more than a year, the new deal will make it the first third-party mobile payment system to be accepted at any physical Apple store worldwide. Alipay, which is managed by Alibaba affiliate firm Ant Financial, counts over 500 million users. Ant Financial said in a statement on Wednesday. Apple’s own payment system has had a lukewarm reception in China.
