Apple hopes to launch payment service in China by February, sources say

Apple is aiming to launch its Apple Pay payment service in China by early February and has struck deals to link services with accounts at all of China’s big four state-run banks, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing unnamed sources. Apple’s Chief Executive Tim Cook has been in close contact with Chinese government agencies and has stated a desire for Apple Pay to enter China as soon as possible. On debut it would face a market dominated by entrenched rivals: State-run UnionPay still holds effective monopoly on processing card payments; Alibaba affiliate Alipay dominates electronic payments with nearly 45% of the market, while Tencent-backed rival Tenpay holds nearly 19%.