In its strategic plan to set foot in the lucrative Chinese market, Apple Pay has taken a vital step and registered an entity in the Shanghai free-trade zone, according to official media and people familiar with the matter.
As reported by Shanghai's government-backed paper Wenhui News, the entity was registered in the pilot free-trade zone to operate the Apple Pay business, Apple Inc.'s mobile-payment service.
The government of Shanghai's company-registration database shows that the entity, named Apple Technology Service (Shanghai) Ltd., was registered on June 10. It further enumerated that the entity's business operations will include services and system integration in the field of payments and technical consulting.
This news was confirmed by the people familiar with the registration, citing that the said move will "bring Apple Pay, considered as a new type of business, new model and new technology, into China."
According to Apple's CEO Tim Cook, they wanted to bring the service to China as quickly as possible. Nonetheless, neither the firm nor the Chinese government has disclosed a timeline for the said venture.
In China, companies aiming to launch online payment operation should first get approvals from particular regulators, such as the central bank.
Moreover, should Apple Pay win final approval, analysts reiterate that what they will be entering is a market that is already dominated by other players, including Alibaba's Alipay.
The Apple Pay entity lists Apple South Asia Pte. Ltd., Apple's Singaporean branch, as its only investor so far. It has a registered capital of $13.4 million.
Meanwhile, Gary Joseph Wipfler, Apple's vice president and corporate treasurer, serves as the entity's legal representative and chairman.