(ECNS) -- Samsung has inked a partnership with Alipay, China's biggest payment service, amid efforts to expand its footprint in China, the International Financial News reported.
Under the agreement, owners of Samsung phones will be able to more easily make payments with Alipay, which is run by Alibaba affiliate Ant Financial Services Group. Users of Samsung Pay can also pay with their Alipay accounts without having to separately access the Alipay application.
Samsung introduced its Samsung Pay on the Chinese mainland in March, about a month after Apple launched Apple Pay, and has entered into partnership with a growing number of banks.
Mobile payments in China are dominated by Alipay and WeChat, a wildly popular social media app by Chinese technology giant Tencent. In a report in 2015, 71.8 percent of respondents chose to use Alipay because it's fast, saves time and avoids the trouble of changing money.
Insiders said Samsung's move, following a similar tie-up by smartphone producer Huawei with Alipay, is designed to boost sales in the world's biggest smartphone market.
The move is also seen as a measure of efforts to compete with Apple Pay, which uses a different method for mobile payments. Currently when a customer uses Apple Pay, they need to open a separate Alipay app, then scan a QR code provided by the retailer.
Alipay's cooperation with smartphone makers also aims to simplify payment procedures and increase the speed to "seconds".
