Following Apple's launching of its mobile payment system in China, rival company Samsung Electronics has revealed that it will soon follow suit.

The South Korean firm revealed that its mobile payment platform Samsung Pay is already available in the United States and South Korea and plans to expand it to China next month, although no particular date has been set yet.

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The China launch of Samsung Pay will be followed by a rollout in Australia, Brazil, Singapore, Spain and the United Kingdom, with Canada to follow at a later stage.

Meanwhile, Samsung's competitor Apple Pay is already open for business in five countries, namely, Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, the United States and, since Thursday, China.

All payment services by the two companies are only compatible with the latest versions of their respective smartphones. This means, in-app and in-store payments made through Apple Pay can only be used by iPhone 6, 6s, 6 Plus and 6s Plus, while iPad users can make in-app purchases only. Apple Watch can also be used when paired with the iPhone 5 or later models for in-store payments.

On the other hand, Samsung's service works with latest, high-end models including the Galaxy S6, S6 edge, S6 edge+ and Note 5. It is also compatible with mid-range units like Galaxy A5 and A7, which were released this year.

The company also revealed that Samsung Pay will collaborate with four payment platforms, namely, American Express, Visa, MasterCard and now China UnionPay. UnionPay is one of the partners of Apple Pay in China, as the company issues a huge number of credit and debit cards that are currently four billion in circulation.

Samsung has announced that in the first six months of last year, nearly five million registered Samsung Pay users transacted more than 500 million dollars. 

Tagsapple pay, Samsung Pay, Samsung, mobile payment service, UnionPay