Apple's mobile payment platform Apple Pay arrived in Brazil on Wednesday with an exclusive partnership with Itau Unibanco Holding, the country's largest private lender.
The bank said Apple Pay will be available during the 90-day exclusive period to Itau's roughly 1.2 million cardholders who also own an iPhone 6 or higher.
Under the terms of the partnership, Brazilian retailers such as GPA SA will offer discounts on purchases using Apple Pay.
Apple's partnership with Itau follows the launch of Google Pay nearly a month ago in a similar partnership between Google parent company Alphabet and Banco Bradesco SA, Brazil's second-largest lender.
In February, Apple said it will accept Chinese mobile payment app Alipay in its local stores, boosting its ties with giant e-commerce firm Alibaba Group Holding amid a push by the iPhone maker to revive growth in the world's No. 2 economy.
The tie-up will make Alipay, run by Alibaba affiliate Ant Financial, the first third-party mobile payment system to be accepted at any physical Apple Store worldwide, Ant Financial said in a statement on Wednesday. Apple's own payment system has had a lukewarm reception in China.
The Cupertino-based firm will accept Alipay payment across its 41 brick-and-mortar retail stores in China, said Ant Financial, which was valued at $60 billion in 2016.
© Thomson Reuters 2018
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