Samsung has launched its mobile wallet service in China in co-operation with UnionPay, the BBC reports. The service allows shoppers to use their smartphones for in-store purchases. Samsung's move follows the launch of Apple Pay in China last month. The two smartphone payment providers will take on Alipay, which dominates China's electronic payment market. WeChat and Huawei are also competing in the market. Italy's banks have one of the worst bad loan problems in Europe, with more than €360 billion of non-performing loans, reports the Wall Street Journal. The option of creating an industry "bad bank" with state support - as Ireland and Spain did a few years ago - is not open to Italy now as that would have economic repercussions. Instead, the WSJ suggests, industry consolidation will allow banks with strong balance sheets to absorb the remaining debts. The merger between Banco Popolare and its smaller, but stronger rival Banca Popolare di Milano - assuming it gets done - will mark out a route for other similar deals. This year's Bank of England stress tests of the UK's biggest banks model an almost eight per cent negative impact on global economic growth, a deeper shock than either of the past two exercises, the Financial Times reports. The BoE will also raise the minimum capital levels that banks must maintain in stressed conditions by including so-called Pillar 2A buffers, which are set on a bank-by-bank basis by the regulator. It will also include an extra capital buffer that groups considered to be global systemically important banks must meet under Financial Stability Board rules that come into force for the world's biggest banks by 2019, the FT notes.