At the Wall Street Journal Digital Live conference, Alibaba founder Jack Ma mentioned that he would be interested in bringing Apple Pay to Alibaba's customers in China. Ma's statement comes on the heels of Tim Cook announcing that he would like to work with the Chinese retailer in launching the NFC-based payment system in the country.
When asked if Alibaba's Alipay payment solution would integrate with Apple Pay, Ma said:
I'm very interested in that. A good marriage needs both sides working hard. I respect Apple and I respect Tim (Cook) very very much, from the heart. I hope we can do something together.
Although Alibaba does not have a strong retail presence in the US, the website serves more customers per day that both Amazon and eBay combined. With 300 million active customers, Alipay is the third largest payment service in the world, after Visa and MasterCard. Ma stated that focus will be on Chinese clientele for the time being, and that he is looking to bring American and European products to China, along with striking content deals with major Hollywood studios.
What do you guys think of the possible collaboration between Apple and Alibaba?
Source: Wall Street Journal