苹果支付在中国前途坎坷五原因

    11天前，iPhone 6在中国上市，但苹果支付（Apple Pay）功能却未能启用。中国顶尖商业媒体财新（Caixin）曾在上月报道称，苹果公司与中国国有的支付处理系统银联（UnionPay）达成了协议，将在中国境内激活Apple Pay功能。但该媒体如今表示，Apple Pay预计到明年3月才能开始在中国使用。

    即便明年春天Apple Pay得以登陆中国，恐怕也将举步维艰。为什么呢？

    1、中国信用卡和借记卡的使用范围远小于西方国家。今天的中国仍然以现金交易为主，苹果很难迅速改变这种情况。在北京，只接受现金付款的包括：出租车、麦当劳（McDonalds）、小型集市和商店、快餐摊点、食堂、许多餐厅、甚至旅游景点的售票亭。电子刷卡消费在中国尚不普及。

    2、占领中国电子支付市场并不容易。这也是为何蒂姆•库克对阿里巴巴（Alibaba）董事长马云伸出的橄榄枝反应积极。马云旗下的支付宝（Alipay）是独立于阿里巴巴的另一家公司，负责处理阿里巴巴平台上的几乎所有交易。借助二维码技术，顾客利用支付宝应用就能在门店内完成支付。由于支付宝使用很广泛——中国大城市里几乎人人都用它——为了在中国站稳脚跟，Apple Pay可能必须得与阿里巴巴分享利润。因此，库克和马云再一次商讨了合作问题。

    3、从先前的案例来看，苹果处于劣势。Visa卡、万事达卡（Mastercard）和美国运通（American Express）奋斗多年，想让中国按照世界贸易组织（World Trade Organization）的规定对外国公司开放银行卡系统，但中国不为所动。中国政府已经拒绝了好几家国外的支付处理公司，凭什么对苹果另眼相看呢？

    4、中国仍在担心网络安全。苹果前不久才因为用户安全问题遭到美国媒体的抨击。分析家们认为，中国政府出于安全考虑，更愿意在许多领域上使用本土技术，支付领域就是其中之一。支付宝大获成功，因此苹果面对着一个强大的竞争对手，或是一个处于主导地位的合作伙伴。

    5、中国银联垄断了银行卡领域，其手握Apple Pay进入中国的钥匙，而且几乎肯定会提出苛刻条件。由于苹果不准备与银联展开直接竞争，因此控制了中国国内交易的银联给苹果让出的收入，可能会低于苹果在其他地区由于万事达卡、Visa卡、美国运通和Discover多家竞争获得的收入。

    译者：严匡正

    When the iPhone 6 arrived in China 11 days ago, Apple Pay was disabled. Caixin, the country’s top business magazine, which reported a month ago that Apple Inc AAPL 1.55% had reached an agreement with UnionPay, the state-owned payment processing system, to activate Apple Pay in the country, now says Apple Pay isn’t expected until March.

    Even if it arrives by the spring, Apple Pay has a tough road ahead in China. Why?

    1. China’s use of credit and debit cards is far below that of Western countries. For now the country remains a cash-based society, something that Apple can’t quickly change. Here’s a list of cash-only sellers in Beijing: taxis, McDonalds, small markets and shops, lunch stalls and cafeterias, many restaurants, even tourist ticket stalls. Electronic swipes just aren’t as popular yet.

    2. Electronics transfers are, though, and that’s why Tim Cook was reciprocating some love for Alibaba’s BABA 1.93% Jack Ma yesterday. Ma owns Alipay, a separate company from Alibaba that handles almost all the transactions on Alibaba’s marketplaces. Alipay’s QR code technology lets consumers pay at stores with the setup. Because of Alipay’s ubiquity—almost everyone in China’s big cities uses it—Apple Pay might have to share profits with Alibaba in order to get a foothold in China. Hence, again, Cook and Ma’s marriage talk.

    3. The precedent isn’t on Apple’s side here. Visa, Mastercard, and American Express fought China for years to follow World Trade Organization rules and open its card system to foreign companies. Nothing happened. China has already discriminated against foreign processing companies, so why would it treat Apple much different?

    4. China is still concerned about cyber security. Apple has come under fire from state media in the country over user security. Analysts believe China would rather use homegrown technologies in many areas of tech for security reasons, and payments is one. With Alipay’s success, Apple faces a strong competitor, or a possible dominant partner.

    5. UnionPay, the card processing monopoly in China, holds the keys for Apple Pay and will almost surely play tough. While Apple isn’t trying to compete directly with Unionpay, the monopoly controls transactions in China and likely won’t give Apple the same slice of revenues the company may receive elsewhere where Mastercard, Visa, American Express, and Discover compete against each other.