金融时报:搞定银联 Apple Pay年初登陆中国

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2021年10月20日

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搞定银联 Apple Pay年初登陆中国

作为iPhone的最大市场，Apple Pay终于克服困难计划2016年在中国正式上线。苹果正式宣布，Apple Pay与银联云闪付相结合，银联卡持卡人可以将卡片添加到iPhone、Apple Watch以及iPad上。届时苹果将要面对支付宝、微信支付等难缠的对手。

测试中可能遇到的词汇和知识：

rollout部署['rəlaʊt]

clearance放行证['klɪərəns]

earmark指定用途['ɪəmɑ:k]

cache缓存，储藏[kæʃ]

facto事实上['fæktəʊ]

Apple Pay to launch in China next year （628 words）

By Tim Bradshaw in San Francisco

Apple has struck a long-awaited deal with UnionPay and 15 Chinese banks to launch its mobile payments service in China.

The tie-up will allow Apple to tap UnionPay's 5bn issued cards, which are accepted across China and in more than 150 countries. Agricultural Bank of China, Bank of China, China Construction Bank and ICBC are among the lenders lined up to support Apple Pay.

However, the mainland rollout of Apple Pay is still awaiting regulatory clearance. Apple said it hoped UnionPay customers would be able to add their cards to the service “as soon as early 2016 after relevant tests and certification required by Chinese regulators”.

The wireless payments service was launched in the US in October 2014 after the debut of the iPhone 6, before arriving in the UK, Canada and Australia this year. Spain, Singapore and Hong Kong Special Administrative Region（HKSAR）are all earmarked for launch in 2016.

The app, powered by a secure chip inside the device, allows customers to pay at participating retailers by holding their thumb on the iPhone's home button and tapping it at the checkout. It also works with Apple Watch and within apps for Apple's smartphones and tablets.

China is a vital market for Apple at a time when growth has slowed in other parts of the world. Sales from the Greater China region surged 84 per cent last year to $58.7bn, as the iPhone retains its cache among Chinese consumers.

“China is an extremely important market for Apple and with China UnionPay and support from 15 of China's leading banks, users will soon have a convenient, private and secure payment experience,” said Eddy Cue, Apple's senior vice-president of internet software and services.

Chai Hongfeng, executive vice-president of China UnionPay, said: “China UnionPay is dedicated to promoting payment innovations and providing secure, convenient mobile payment experiences for its hundreds of millions of cardholders.”

UnionPay's QuickPass technology already allows many cardholders to pay by tapping their credit cards. Last week, UnionPay said more than 20 banks were backing a new mobile payment service. Chinese consumers used their smartphones to make $3.5tn worth of transactions last year but the market is dominated by Alibaba's Alipay and Tencent's Tenpay.

Apple faces tough competition in China, said Mark Natkin of Marbridge Consulting in Beijing, with Alipay dominant with around 70 per cent of the mobile payments market, followed by Tenpay with 16-19 per cent and Baidu trying to break in.

“They are coming into a market where there are two extremely strong incumbents and a third very strong local company that is making headway. For Apple to gain traction here — it won't be impossible, but it will be very challenging” he said.

Apple said in October that more than 1.5m US stores, and more than 250,000 shops in the UK, will accept payment by iPhone by the end of the year. However, its effort to become the de facto standard for mobile payments faces a growing number of challengers from rival tech companies such as Google and Samsung, as well as banks and retailers.

Walmart announced this month that it would launch its own mobile payment app across the US in the first half of next year. JPMorgan Chase is also launching a digital wallet that can be used at the likes of Walmart and 7-Eleven.

With Apple coy about exactly how many customers are making iPhone payments, some analysts have questioned the popularity of the service. One researcher, Phoenix Marketing International, has estimated that while 14 per cent of US households with credit cards had signed up for Apple Pay, transactions make up just a couple of percentage points. Apple is hoping to bolster usage of its service by adding person-to-person payments, akin to PayPal's Venmo, people familiar with its plans have said.

请根据你所读到的文章内容，完成以下自测题目：

1.What is Apple Pay still awaiting for now?

A.formal agreement with ICBC

B.headquarters support

C.regulatory clearance

D.solution of safety problem

答案(1)

2.Which country is not on the 2016 launch list?

A.Spain

B.Australia

C.Singapore

D.Hong Kong