The app will recognise where the Chinese Alipay user is in Europe and send notifications about where to eat, shopping offers and places to see. When a user attempts to pay, a barcode will be shown on a persons device which the merchant can scan.
Alipay, which is deeply ingrained in the lives of Chinese consumers, is used to pay for items in-store and online for goods and services ranging from taxis to restaurants and clothing. Chinese banks and UnionPay, on the other hand, have largely been left out of the mobile payment revolution in the domestic market as it was dominated by digital payment providers Alipay and Tenpay.
Alibaba is hoping that its active Alipay users, which now total 450 million, according to the company, will continue to use the app abroad allowing the company to take advantage of the increasing number of Chinese tourists who are spending more.
Sabrina Peng, president of Alipay International, mentioned at the Money 2020 conference in Copenhagen, that they are targeting two billion people within next five to ten years, not only in China but other countries too.
Chinese tourists spent USD 215 billion abroad last year, a 53 percent rise from 2014, according to the World Travel & Tourism Council. Alipay is hoping that much of this spending will be through its app. Even more, Ant Financial said that Alipay was used by 120 million users abroad last year and now processes 170 million transactions per day.
Even so, the company is not planning to invest heavily in payment companies in Europe just yet. Ant Financial is talking to a number of partners from financial institutions to restaurants and theatres across Europe to get them on board with Alipay. Merchants will be able to view the shopping habits on Chinese consumers spending in their stores through Alipays dashboard.
Partnerships will be key for the platform in order to get merchants sending through offers and deals. Alipay does not compete directly with the likes of Samsung Pay and Apple Pay as both services just allow people to purchase items with their phone. Instead, with the focus on allowing merchants to use Alipay to help market to customers and learn their behavior, Ant Financial sees it as a tool to drive revenues.
Chinese consumers will be able to use Alipay in the UK, Germany, France and Italy starting this summer.
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