Apple Pay is a huge deal. The United States is painfully behind the times when it comes to smartphone-based payment solutions, but Apple is looking to rocket us into the lead in the mobile payments market — while making a boatload of cash in the process. Apple Pay just launched last month and it’s already a huge deal, responsible for about 1% of transactions at Whole Foods in just 17 days. Of course, Apple isn’t just targeting the U.S. with Apple Pay, and the company’s international efforts may get a huge jumpstart sooner than most people expected.
According to a new report from The Wall Street Journal, Apple is in talks China-based eCommerce giant Alibaba concerning a deal that would bring Apple’s new mobile payment solution to China. The report is based on comments made by Joseph Tsai, Alibaba’s executive vice chairman, who confirmed that the two companies are negotiating a deal but did not provide any specifics.
Alibaba already has its own payment platform called Alipay, and an agreement with Apple could see the two payment solutions integrate in some way in the Chinese market.
Jack Ma, founder of Alibaba, has also stated publicly that Alibaba is interested in partnering with Apple on a mobile payments solution.
