14 DAY TRIAL // Apple today issued a press release announcing that it has added UnionPay as a payment service supported by the App Store, allowing Chinese customers to use their preferred one-tap purchasing method, which works similarly to the new Apple Pay.
As the most popular payment card in China, UnionPay support will provide App Store customers with a much more convenient way to buy digital content by linking their Apple ID with a debit or credit card.
Apple trusts UnionPay as if it were its own
The news release from Cupertino states that the Chinese bankcard network operates the country’s national inter-bank clearing and settlement system, while at the same time it develops a worldwide acceptance network with safe and efficient payments.
Over 4.5 billion UnionPay Cards have been issued since the inception of the service in 2002. Acceptance has been recorded in over 140 countries and regions thanks to partnerships with more than 400 institutions worldwide.
“The ability to buy apps and make purchases using UnionPay cards has been one of the most requested features from our customers in China,” says Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of Internet Software and Services. “China is already our second largest market for app downloads, and now we’re providing users with an incredibly convenient way to purchase their favorite apps with just one-tap.”
More about UnionPay
On the official unionpay.com site, customers learn that the 13-year-old Chinese national bankcard association is “responsible for operating the unified inter-bank clearing and settlement system in China and developing the international acceptance network for UnionPay cards.”
“By collaborating with various parties of the Bandcard industry, UnionPay has greatly boosted the development of China’s bankcard industry,” the company states.
The “about us” at unionpay.com clearly needs a refresh as the description says, “To date, the total number of UnionPay cards issued worldwide has exceeded 2.1 billion,” which is less than half of Apple’s touted number.
Which pretty much means that every other data point in that description could also be off by a great margin, such as the number of UnionPay card inter-bank transactions reaching 7 billion for a total of $1.1 trillion (€878 billion). Or the number of merchants, POS terminals, and ATMs. The documentation, however, touts the same 400 financial partnerships around the world.
“As of now, UnionPay card international acceptance network covers all of China, and also extended to more than 90 countries and regions in 5 continents. Over 10 of them, including Japan, Korea, Singapore, Russia and Mongolia have issued UnionPay cards,” the payment processor adds.
