After almost two years of planning, Apple finally launched Apple Pay in China last month — and, wouldn’t you know it, Samsung’s keen to catch up!

To that end, the company officially launched Samsung Pay in China today, partnering with the state-backed China UnionPay to do so.

And, right away, it claims that it will be available in more places than Apple’s rival system.

According to Samsung, its mobile wallet system works with nine Chinese banks to start with, and four handsets including the Galaxy S7, Galaxy S7 edge, Galaxy S6 edge+, and Galaxy Note 5. No doubt more banks and devices will be added over time, and Samsung says it is particularly focused on introducing the feature for its “mid-range” handsets.

As with Apple’s enthusiasm to bring Apple Pay to China, the country represents a massive opportunity.

According to recent figures, China’s mobile payment market is worth approximately $2.5 trillion, although Samsung will have to work hard to compete with local established payment systems — such as Alibaba’s Alipay, Tencent’s WeChat messaging service, and one from rival smartphone company Huawei.

Source: Samsung

Via: The Verge