While iPhone owners in China may not yet have access to Apple Pay, it looks like they can still look forward to using Touch ID with their mobile payments. Alipay, a mobile payments platform run by Alibaba in China, was updated Tuesday with support for Touch ID verification.
The addition of Touch ID verification in Alipay Wallet replaces the app's previous password verification process, and should be available immediately to users.
In addition, a report by China Daily says that Alipay is working on bringing other biometric verification processes to the platform:
Alipay, which has more than 300 million users in China, said it is working on other biometric technologies, which can make it possible for people to confirm payments for a wide variety of goods and services by winking or simply by showing their faces in the near future.
The integration of Apple's fingerprint sensor in Alipay could be the first step towards the two companies working together. Just last month, Alibaba's Executive Vice Chairman Joseph Tsai hinted that Alipay could provide the back-end services for Apple Pay in China.
Source: China Daily