Alibaba-affiliated Ant Financial has launched a new international version of its mobile payments app Alipay allowing tourists and business travelers to use mobile payments in mainland China.
The availability of the Alipay service will help travelers to China access the country's massive cashless economy, where everyone from taxi drivers to luxury malls have come to rely on mobile payments.
The launch will now allow users of Alipay to download and purchase prepaid cards within the app using international debit and credit cards. However, these prepaid cards will expire after 90 days from the date of purchase and any remaining balance will be automatically refunded to the user.
Alipay tweeted on Tuesday: "We heard you. You want to use @Alipay and guess what? Now you can! Visitors to China are now able to #PayWithAlipay. Simply download @Alipay via app stores to start enjoying wallet-free travel! That QR code by the cashier will no longer be a foreign sight."
Currently, Alibaba and Tencent are the top service providers of cashless payments in China with their Alipay and WeChat Pay platforms, with over a billion users of digital payment systems in the country. The use of such systems have replaced credit cards and cash at the payment registers as well as how families and friends give gifts to each other.
Even Apple, which tried to implement its own payment system but failed to gain traction, now accepts Alipay at its local stores in China.
According to Ant Financial, the introduction of the international service will enable the company to take advantage of the growing number of tourists to China. According to government statistics, in 2018, almost 31 million foreign travelers entered the country and spent $73 billion while they were touring. This was a 5% increase in the number of visitors and tourist spending compared to a year earlier.
