Alipay operator Ant Financial Services Group plans to support 10 million small and mid-sized European businesses over the coming five years, enabling them to better serve global consumers and travelers.
Chief Executive Eric Jing revealed the plan at the Alipay Partners Global Summit in London yesterday, Xinhua News Agency reported today. He said the Hangzhou-based company will deepen cooperation with French e-payment services provider Worldline so vendors in Europe can accept payments from other Asian e-wallets via point-of-sales systems.
China’s outbound tourists totaled almost 150 million in 2018, up 14.7 percent from a year earlier, according to official Chinese data. Some 11 percent of them flocked to Europe, making the continent the second-most popular destination after Asia, according to Trip.com, formerly known as Ctrip.
Mobile payments overtook cash for the first time among Chinese globetrotters last year, Alipay pointed out in a report earlier this year. Access to Alipay had boosted both store traffic and operating revenues, according to nearly 60 percent of the overseas merchants surveyed.
With 900 million active users in China, Alipay has also introduced localized versions in nine countries and regions around the world in cooperation with e-wallet service providers in countries such as South Korea and Thailand, collectively serving 1.2 billion users worldwide, according to data Jing disclosed in September.
Ant Financial is the fintech affiliate of Chinese e-commerce behemoth Alibaba Group Holding.
Source: yicaiglobal.com
