After weeks of talking about the new iPhones, attention has now turned to Apple’s new payment solution called Apple Pay. 

Specifically, reports surfaced this week that some major retailers like WalMart and Rite Aid are now blocking Apple’s contactless payment solution as they ready a product of their own. 

Apple CEO Tim Cook addressed the matter during a talk at a Wall Street Journal conference. Video clips of the talk were broadcast online. 

Cook called the intial resistance from retailers a “skirmish” and went on to tout how quickly iPhone users are adopting Apple Pay. 

“In the first 72 hours we’d gone over the 1 million mark on activations of cards,” Cook said. “If you sum up everyone that’s in the contactless mobile payments at the point of sale, we’re already number one.” 

Apple also may be looking for a payments partner in China. 

According to Cook, Apple is targeting a marriage with Alibaba’s AliPay. Cook said that Alibaba Group’s Executive Chairman Jack Ma is exactly the kind of person that Apple likes to partner with. 

“I have the utmost respect for Jack,” Cook said. “We love to partner with people that are wicked smart, that have flexible teams and make great products.” 

Cooks remarks come after a number of retailers began rejecting Apple Pay. Those retailers are part of a joint venture called the Merchant Customer Exchange (MCE), which is developing something called the CurrentC platform. 

CurrentC is in testing in limited locations around the United States with a full rollout expected by 2015. A press release from MCE states that CurrentC aims to “simplify and expedite the customer checkout process by applying qualifying offers and coupons, participating merchant rewards, loyalty programs and membership accounts, and offering payment options through the consumer’s selected financial account, all with a single scan.”

Apple shares have done nothing but climb since the new iPhones were released. Apple stock was set to open Tuesday near its all-time high at $150.22.