China UnionPay launches online, mobile payment platform
Beijing. June 9. INTERFAX-CHINA - China UnionPay Co. Ltd. (UnionPay), a state-owned credit card company, announced June 9 it has launched an online and mobile payment platform.
The as yet unnamed platform is compatible with popular mobile operating systems (OS), including Apple Inc.'s iOS, Google Inc.'s Android and Microsoft Corp.'s Windows Phone 7 OS, according to the announcement.
More than 60 Chinese banks have joined the platform with another 157 companies signed up, the announcement said.
China's Ministry of Railways has also selected UnionPay's platform to facilitate payments for an online train ticketing service due for launch later this year, the announcement added.
The platform will pit UnionPay against Alibaba Group, whose Alipay service dominates China's online payment sector. Online retailer 360buy dropped Alipay as part of plans to launch an online payment service with UnionPay, Interfax reported May 18.
UnionPay holds a virtual monopoly on bank card-based payment systems in China.
-RL
