SHANGHAI, 5 September 2024 -- Ant Group today announced the number of international visitors who have used its mobile payment services in China quadrupled over the past six months, following the launch of the International Consumer Friendly Zones program in March that has now expanded to 70 Chinese cities.
Speaking at the 2024 INCLUSION·Conference on the Bund, Cyril Han, President and CFO of Ant Group, said transaction volumes of inbound tourists using Ant-supported mobile payment services grew by sixfold between March and August 2024 year-on-year. This surge has created significant business opportunities for local merchants. The number of Chinese merchants regularly servicing overseas travelers through the company’s mobile payment solutions have tripled during the same period.
Since 2019, Ant Group, with the support of the People’s Bank of China, has collaborated with international card networks and overseas digital wallets to drive innovation in inbound mobile payments, a collective effort known as the China Payment Facilitation Partnership. During the 2023 Hangzhou Asian Games, Ant introduced two mobile payment solutions for international visitors, and the number of supported international payment partners has continued to grow since then.
Caption: Pay Local Travel Local across Amazing China ceremony on 5 September at the INCLUSION Conference recognizes the top merchants and innovation partners in the China International Payment Facilitation Partnership.
Through Alipay+, the cross-border mobile payment and digitalization solutions operated by Ant International, international visitors can pay with their home e-wallets across China. Alipay+ now supports 13 leading e-wallets and payment apps in Asia for use across an 80-million-strong merchant network in China, an increase from 10 payment partners in 2023. Those include AlipayHK (Hong Kong SAR, China), Kaspi.kz (Kazakhstan), MPay (Macao SAR, China), Touch 'n Go eWallet (Malaysia), Hipay (Mongolia), NayaPay (Pakistan), Changi Pay (Singapore), OCBC Digital (Singapore), Kakao Pay (South Korea), Naver Pay (South Korea), Toss Pay (South Korea), TrueMoney (Thailand), and GCash (the Philippines).
The other option allows visitors to bind major international bank cards --Visa, Mastercard, JCB, Discover®, Diners Club International, and UnionPay International -- to the Alipay app to access to a rich array of local services, including shopping, dining, ride-hailing and public transportation, without needing a Chinese-mainland bank account or phone number. The number of card networks supported on Alipay is expected to increase to 7 as American Express has recently received an approval for an inbound wallet solution in China.
