NFC Times Exclusive – UPDATE: Apple Pay was expected to launch in China sometime before the beginning of Lunar New Year, but now one or more sources in China say they expect it to happen as early as next week, nearly three weeks before New Year’s Day, which is Feb. 8.
It would certainly happen before the beginning of Lunar New Year, they say. UPDATE: Feb. 16, 2016: China Pay is now expected to launch Feb. 18 in China. END UPDATE. In addition, a separate source told NFC Times that the deal Apple reached with payment network China UnionPay has a clause that allows the parties to revisit the fees UnionPay and perhaps banks will pay to Apple after three years. END UPDATE.
The source, having spoken to informed parties from China, said UnionPay would pay a fixed fee per transaction to Apple based on the merchant category, such as restaurants or convenience stores. The fee would not be a percentage of the transaction. Of course, neither Apple nor UnionPay are speaking publicly about the fees they agree on.