Alipay+ sees jump in transactions

Ant Group’s global expansion is continuing apace. According to data compiled by the Chinese payments giant, the number of travelers using their home payment apps via Ant’s Alipay+ app tripled from January to September, while spending at food and beverage outlets, attractions and ride sharing/taxis rose by 80%, 50% and 120% respectively.

Ant seems to be betting on continuous growth in tourism among a handful of Asian countries and territories to boost use of the Alipay+ app. These include Japan, South Korea, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia. In Malaysia, for instance, transactions with PayNet’s DuitNow QR, which is integrated with Alipay+, recorded an average quarterly growth of 142% thus far in 2024.

Another market that interests Alipay is international tourists traveling to China, whose credit and bank cards may not work in the country. Before the mid-2010s, using cash solved that problem, but today China’s payments system is highly digitized, making the use of cash awkward at best. With that in mind, it is a wise move for Alipay to link up with other e-wallets so that their users can make payments seamlessly when they visit China.

Alipay is continuing its cross-border expansion with new partnerships, including one with Mastercard focused on remittances. Remittances is a segment that Beijing supports as long as the money is being remitted into China. The agreement between the two companies announced in March, which expands Mastercard’s existing relationship with Alipay, allows consumers to receive money in their digital wallets in near real-time.

This tie-up gives Alipay access to Mastercard’s massive global payments rail, while for the U.S. credit card, it has access to 1 billion users of the Chinese e-wallet. This deal should strengthen Mastercard’s foothold in China following it in 2023 acquiring a bank card clearing license together in a joint venture with the local firm NetsUnion Clearing Corp.

In early April, Alipay announced the launch of a nationwide program with 11 overseas payment partners of Alipay+  to develop International Consumer Friendly Zones across key Chinese tourist and commercial cities. The launch included the announcement of a new partnership with Pakistan’s NayaPay, establishing the first direct payment channel between the two countries. Under the agreement, all NayaPay users will be able to make payments with their e-money account at Alipay+’s network of 80 million merchants in China.

Additionally, Alipay+ is reportedly planning to launch in Indonesia as well. However, on April 24 Indonesian central bank deputy governor Filianingsih Hendarta said at a news conference that Alipay+ had not formally requested a permit for operations in Indonesia.