Samsung struck a deal with China's largest online payments platform, announcing that Samsung Pay is adding Alipay support.
Samsung Electronics entered the agreement with Ant Financial, Alibaba's financial tech affiliate and Alipay parent company. As both Samsung and Apple are trying to secure a foothold in China with their respective mobile payment systems, this new deal with Alipay holds great value.
Alipay would be a fierce rival to both Samsung Pay and Apple Pay in China, and this new deal means that Samsung now has a powerful ally to get an edge over Apple. The iPhone maker has reportedly been trying to secure a similar deal with Alibaba since last year, but it has yet to materialize.
Under this new partnership with Alipay, Samsung will be able to significantly expand its Samsung Pay services on the Chinese market.
"The reception of Samsung Pay since its launch has been extremely positive and the service has already seen tremendous success in terms of availability and adoption by consumers," says Injong Rhee, Samsung Electronics' Mobile Communications Business Head of R&D, Software and Services.
Rhee adds that Samsung's ultimate goal is to push its mobile payment service worldwide to as many users as possible, enabling more people to take advantage of the "simplicity, safety and convenience of this mobile payment solution."
Samsung Pay users in China can now link their Alipay accounts to the service and make seamless payments via NFC and MST at various retail stores or access Alipay QR codes via Samsung's payments app.
Using Alipay through Samsung Pay is pretty easy and straightforward. To start paying with their smartphones, all users need to do is swipe up from the Home Screen, Lock Screen or Sleep Mode, select the Alipay QR code and scan it at the register by holding the handset up to the merchant's scanner.
While Samsung obviously stands to gain from this partnership, Alipay draws its own benefits too. The deal will allow the Chinese behemoth to expand beyond e-commerce, boosting its offline payments reach. At the same time, the collaboration between Samsung Pay and Alipay should also translate to a faster and more convenient payment process.
According to Alipay, its service is accepted at roughly 600,000 physical retail locations across China and in more than 1 million taxis.
