Ant Group, the financial technology titan, has expanded its “Alipay+-in-China” Program (A+China Program) by integrating seven prominent e-wallets and payment apps from across Asia. The esteemed entrants include mPay from Macao SAR, China, Hipay from Mongolia, Singapore’s Changi Pay and OCBC, alongside Naver Pay and Toss Pay from South Korea, and Thailand’s TrueMoney.
These new partnerships elevate the tally of foreign e-wallets supported within mainland China to an impressive total of 10. Piloting this groundbreaking program in late 2022 were AlipayHK from Hong Kong SAR, China, Malaysia’s Touch ’n Go eWallet, and South Korea’s Kakao Pay.
Seamless Cross-border Transactions
E-wallet users will now have the liberty to access their preferred payment applications across the expansive merchant base of Alipay within China. These integrations assure users of a secure, fluid, and cashless transactional experience. Moreover, they can benefit from competitive and transparent exchange rates.
There’s an additional perk for these e-wallet users. They can now leverage promotional offers through the Alipay+ Rewards platform, a cross-border digital marketing hub. This initiative is a nod to the commitment of the e-wallet teams, who are striving to offer unparalleled customer support, powered by the smart tech functionalities of Alipay+.
Strengthening Global Ties
Under the A+China Program umbrella, Alipay+ has officially announced the induction of five new mobile payment partners: Hipay, Changi Pay, OCBC, Naver Pay, and Toss Pay. This move is congruent with Alipay+’s mission to connect cross-border consumers to global and local merchants.
Operating beyond the Chinese borders, Alipay+ is currently associated with 5 million merchants across 56 markets. Collaborating with more than 20 mobile payment partners throughout Asia, they jointly cater to over 1.4 billion consumer accounts.
Expert Insights & Affiliations
Douglas Feagin, Senior Vice President of Ant Group and Head of Alipay+ Cross-Border Mobile Payment Services, highlighted the strategic importance of expanding their partner and merchant network. Feagin emphasized, “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.”
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NetsUnion Clearing Corporation of China voiced their commitment, noting the importance of fostering an inclusive cross-border consumption environment in China.
Eric Jing, Chairman and CEO of Ant Group, expressed gratitude towards the People’s Bank of China and other strategic partners, stating, “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.”
The Digital Payment Landscape
The A+China Program has already shown significant traction. The pilot wallets, including Kakao Pay, Touch ’n Go eWallet, and AlipayHK, witnessed a whopping 47x growth in transactions between March and August 2023.
Forecasts from PricewaterhouseCoopers suggest a 2x to 3x surge in cashless transactions by 2030. Even though China is at the forefront of digital wallet adoption, Southeast Asia is rapidly emerging as the fastest-growing mobile payment market globally.
