Ant Group has officially welcomed seven new e-wallets and payment apps from Asia to its “Alipay+-in-China” Program (A+China Program). This includes mPay (Macao SAR, China), Hipay (Mongolia), Changi Pay (Singapore), OCBC (Singapore), Naver Pay (South Korea), Toss Pay (South Korea) and TrueMoney (Thailand).
The new additions bring the total number of overseas e-wallets accepted in China to 10. AlipayHK, Touch ‘n Go eWallet, and Kakao Pay were the first to pilot the program in late 2022.
Alipay+ covers 5 million merchants in 56 markets outside of China, and works with over 20 mobile payment partners across Asia which together serve over 1.4 billion consumer accounts.
The A+China Program now extends Alipay+ service to tap into the massive merchant network of China with tens of millions of points of sales (POS).
This was made possible by the guidance of the People’s Bank of China and support from NetsUnion Clearing Corporation, e-wallet partners, international card organisations, and other partner financial institutions in China.
Travelers may also choose to bind their international bank cards to an updated international version of Alipay to enjoy mobile payment and digital life services while in China.
Ant Group is rolling out extensive merchants’ education and marketing campaigns across the Chinese mainland, especially in the top tourist cities, to welcome Asian athletes, fans, and travelers.
The total number of payments made in China through the pilot A+China wallets grew 47 times in six months between March and August 2023. Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen are the favorite cities for travelers from South Korea, Malaysia, and Hong Kong SAR.
Douglas Feagin, Senior Vice President of Ant Group and Head of Alipay+ Cross-Border Mobile Payment Services said,
“A growing variety of mobile payment providers are joining this ecosystem of cross-border digital commerce, from mobile wallets, to banking apps, independent merchant apps and super-apps.
We will invest faster and deeper in payment and digital marketing technologies to help our partners and merchants achieve robust, omni-channel growth.”
Eric Jing, Chairman and CEO of Ant Group said,
“It is incredibly inspiring to see such regional multi-party partnership help travelers enjoy greater choice and convenience, and small businesses thrive in cross-border commerce with unprecedented innovations.
We look forward to building wider and deeper collaboration to fulfill our shared mission to make the world a better place with the power of digital technologies.”
