Apple, Alibaba soon to be in talks to link up Apple Pay, Alipay

Apple will soon be talking to Alibaba about a potential link between Apple Pay and the Alibaba’s mobile payment system, Alipay.

The companies could be discussing terms as early as this week, according to Apple chief executive Tim Cook, who made the comments today at WSJD Live, an event hosted by the Wall Street Journal.

“We love to partner with people who are wicked smart, with flexible teams, who are product-based, who push us, and we push them,” Cook said, according to coverage on The Verge. “Jack [Ma, CEO of Alibaba] has a company that’s exactly like that.”

Earlier in the day, Ma had expressed interest in partnering with Apple. “I hope we can do something together,” he said onstage, according to a report in Re/code.

Beyond that, Cook offered no details. Alibaba offers an enormous potential market of Chinese customers, and for Alibaba, Apple could be a portal to the rest of the world.