Mobile payments make for interesting pairings — a fact demonstrated earlier today by Alibaba and Samsung. The Chinese eCommerce giant and the Korean device powerhouse are joining forces to make it easier to pay the Alibaba way via Samsung devices.
Going forward, Samsung Electronics plans to allow its smartphone customers to use Alipay, the online payment platform run by a unit of Chinese eCommerce giant Alibaba, media reports said on Thursday (May 19).
Neither firm has directly commented on the move.
The tie-in comes just a few months after Samsung Pay got its official Chinese launch.
Details are still emerging and largely unconfirmed, but according to sources quoted by Yonhap, a complete announcement is expected tomorrow. Said source also noted that the pair-up might make it possible for Samsung Pay users to make offline purchases using Alipay’s QR codes and barcode scanners.
Alipay is the main mobile force in the Chinese market, with 450 million subscribers in China for its third-party payment system, followed by Tenpay (rival Tencent’s offering). But the marketplace is highly attractive to mobile players around the world, including Samsung and Apple.
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