Apple Card's clearing partner gains approval to operate in China

Mastercard has been approved by the People's Bank of China to begin operating its bank card clearing business in China, opening up the potential for Apple to expand its self-branded Apple Card in the country.

A report by Bloomberg noted that Mastercard's application was approved today, citing an official notice. The PRC has long maintained China UnionPay as its state monopoly for handling all bank card clearing as well as other financial services. However, in 2015 the country initiated plans to allow foreign firms to apply for licenses and set up local operations within the country.

Mastercard, Visa, and American Express have all applied to set up bank card clearing services in China, which would allow them to begin issuing cards and processing transactions with merchants within the world's largest mobile payments market, now estimated to top 129 trillion yuan ($27 trillion) annually.

Card issuers have complained about the barriers to entry in China that have delayed their ability to enter the market as domestic firms have flourished. The report noted that China now has 8.2 billion bank cards in circulation, with 90 percent being debit cards. It has also grown popular to pay with bank-associated apps using either barcodes or NFC.

Apple has already enabled Apple Pay for users in mainland China, but it is limited to only working on the web via Safari on iPhone and iPad running iOS 11.2 or later. Standard Apple Pay works in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macao, regions claimed as part of China that each operate with different levels of independence.

It's still unknown when or even if China will allow Apple to unlock the full potential of Apple Pay in mainland China, where the government seeks greater control over monitoring financial transactions and likely views the security of Apple Pay as a threat.

Apple has gained approval to operate Apple Pay with Express Transit in both Beijing and Shanghai using system issued transit cards. Apple Pay also works in the transit systems in Guangzhou and Hangzhou when set up with a UnionPay account.

If Apple Pay can manage to gain full approval in China, the parallel approval of Mastercard should also allow Apple to introduce Apple Card and its novel Wallet-integrated services within the country.

Apple Card, as well as the Apple Pay Cash service supporting free payments between individuals, are currently only available to users with accounts established in the United States. However, Americans with Apple Card can use it anywhere that Apple Pay NFC contactless transactions work, or via their physical Mastercard anywhere that major credit cards are accepted.

3 Comments

wattouk 50 comments · 5 Years

About 4 years ago

Would be nice if Apple Card and Apple Pay Cash would make it across the pond, it's been years since Apple Pay Cash was introduced and we've heard nothing over here :neutral:

Soli 9981 comments · 9 Years

About 4 years ago

wattouk said:

Would be nice if Apple Card and Apple Pay Cash would make it across the pond, it's been years since Apple Pay Cash was introduced and we've heard nothing over here :neutral:

We knew this would take time and we know the banks are fighting against the inevitable here for more control, but I hope you get it soon—I hope everyone gets it soon.

Not only do I prefer to use it over all other services like Square, PayPal, Zelle, and Venmo, I also use it as a middle man instead of doing an ACH from my brokerage accounts to my bank accounts.

One takes a day and the other takes a couple days, but Apple Cash is the same day if done earlier in the day and by the next morning if done later in the day. I do this by storing the debit card for each brokerage account in Apple Pay and adding funds instantly to Apple Cash from that debit card, and then push the funds to a specific bank account with the routing and account number that is stored.

I reason I do this is because I trust Apple considerably more than my CC and loan companies for securing my personal data so I don't want them to have access to my brokerage accounts, but I'm fine with a bank account that I fund specifically for installment and revolving credit payments which I fund as needed with the dividends that accumulate.

Sure, it's an extra step for me, but it only takes a few extra clicks to initiate and gives me some additional peace of mind since that checking account usually only has a couple bucks left after my bills are paid since I keep pretty accurate tallies on monthly bills. It's really been great for me.

wattouk 50 comments · 5 Years

About 4 years ago

Soli said:

wattouk said:

Would be nice if Apple Card and Apple Pay Cash would make it across the pond, it's been years since Apple Pay Cash was introduced and we've heard nothing over here :neutral:

We knew this would take time and we know the banks are fighting against the inevitable here for more control, but I hope you get it soon—I hope everyone gets it soon.

Not only do I prefer to use it over all other services like Square, PayPal, Zelle, and Venmo, I also use it as a middle man instead of doing an ACH from my brokerage accounts to my bank accounts.

One takes a day and the other takes a couple days, but Apple Cash is the same day if done earlier in the day and by the envy morning if done later in the day. I do this by storing the debit card for each brokerage account in Apple Pay and adding funds instantly to Apple Cash from that debit card, and then push the funds to a specific bank account with the routing and account number that is stored.

I reason I do this is because I trust Apple considerably more than my CC and loan companies for securing my personal data so I don't want them to have access to my brokerage accounts, but I'm fine with a bank account that I fund specifically for installment and revolving credit payments which I fund as needed with the dividends that accumulate.

Sure, it's an extra step for me, but it only takes a few extra clicks to initiate and gives me some additional peace of mind since that checking account usually only has a couple bucks left after my bills are paid since I keep pretty accurate tallies on monthly bills. It's really been great for me.

Just rub it in why don't you 😭