Samsung Pay and Alipay can now be used together in China after the two companies signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) in a bid to expand Samsung’s mobile payment services in the country, ZDNet.com reported.
According to Samsung, the deal would allow Samsung Pay users in China to use Alipay directly though their accounts, without installing additional apps. Alipay users only need to register their accounts to Samsung Pay to be able to use them, the company added.
To use the Samsung Pay interface, Alipay users can drag out the QR code from the bottom of the screen, from locked screen or home screen, and place the smartphones near readers, Samsung said.
Since its launch in 2014, Alipay has gained around 450 million active users, becoming the largest mobile and online payment service in China. As the dominant force in online payment, Alipay has expanded its presence to offline payments.
Samsung Pay and Apple Pay both face a tough challenge from Alipay as most Chinese consumers are more familiar with the latter's service.
The report said that the deal is advantageous to both companies as Samsung needs the incentive to entice Chinese consumers to use its service while Alipay can use the service to gain more offline clients.
"We are excited to be working with Alipay to expand Samsung Pay service in China," Injong Rhee, EVP and head of R&D at Samsung's mobile business, said in a statement. "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. We ultimately want to make Samsung Pay available to as many consumers as possible around the globe, so that everyone can have the opportunity to enjoy simplicity, safety, and convenience of this mobile payment solution."
Meanwhile, Fan Zhiming, president of payment business at Ant Financial, said in another statement: "Alipay covers the vast majority of online payment use cases. At the same time, it also developed a variety of offline use cases, including restaurants, supermarkets, convenience stores, taxis, hospitals and public services."
Fan added that the technology integration facilitated by the partnership with Samsung Electronics will make the payment process faster and more convenient when users make payments at stores where Alipay is accepted.
Nine months after launching, Samsung Pay has reportedly reached 1 trillion won ($850 million) in transactions.
A previous report by ZDNet said that Rhee has bared plans to add more transaction services, which include withdrawing and depositing money in ATMs and more online support globally.