Apple Pay Passes 1 Million Mark in 72 Hours, Plans ahead for China (Oct. 28, 2014)
More than 1 million credit cards were activated within the first three days of the Apply Pay mobile wallet’s Oct. 20 debut, Apple CEO Tim Cook told attendees at the WSJD Live Global Technology Conference this week. During the conference, Cook and Jack Ma, founder of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group, traded overtures that their two powerhouses might be interested in working together. “I respect Apple and … I hope we can do something together,” Ma said about a potential integration of Apple Pay with Alibaba affiliate Alipay, an online payments platform provider. Cook told the Xinhua News Agency last week he wanted to bring the Apple Pay mobile wallet to China. “I’m convinced there will be enough people that want to use it,” he said.
Meanwhile, Wells Fargo is enticing its customers to try Apple Pay, which is installed on the latest iterations of the iPhone, by offering up to a $20 credit when they use Apple Pay to make a purchase by Nov. 30, 2014, with certain Wells Fargo-issued credit, debit and prepaid cards.
If consumer usage is anything like registration, retailers that aren’t accepting Apple Pay may reconsider their positions. Cook referred to CVS/pharmacy and Rite Aid reportedly modifying their POS terminals so they couldn’t process purchases with Apple Pay as a “skirmish,” and said that ultimately consumers will decide how they want to pay. “Merchants have different objectives sometimes,” he said at the Wall Street Journal conference. “But in the long arc of time, you only are relevant as a retailer or merchant if your customers love you.”
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