The collaboration seeks to enable RWS to accept 12 international e-wallets before Singapore's peak travel period. As a result of the collaboration, tourists visiting RWS can pay using e-wallets available in their home countries. The suite of e-wallets that tourists can now use include AlipayHK (Hong Kong SAR, China), GCash (Philippines), Kakao pay (South Korea), Touch n’ Go eWallet (Malaysia), TrueMoney (Thailand), Alipay (Chinese mainland), among others.
Recently, Alipay+ enabled six new wallets, now also used in RWS, encompassing Hipay (Mongolia), MPay (Macao SAR, China), MyPB by Public Bank (Malaysia), Toss Pay and Naver Pay (South Korea), and Tinaba (Italy).
According to the official statement, Alipay+ is widely accepted by merchants in Singapore across various tourist categories, including transportation, food, local attractions, and SGQR merchants.
Alipay+ is a suite of cross-border digital payment, marketing, and digitalisation solutions that help connect global merchants to consumers across 57 markets. Alipay+ connects over 88 million global merchants cross-border to 1.5 billion accounts on over 25 e-wallets and payment apps.
The RWS and Alipay+ partnership expansion and the inclusion of new payment methods that cater to tourists' preferences reflect a larger shift towards meeting customers’ payment expectations.
What is more, the release comes following news that the tourism sector in Singapore is anticipated to continue its growth in 2024. According to the Singapore Tourism Board, visitor arrivals in the first 11 months of 2023 have already doubled compared to the same period in 2022. Among the top ten countries for visitor arrivals are China, Malaysia, the Philippines, and South Korea.
The influx of Chinese tourists is expected to rise further in light of the new visa-free policy between Singapore and China, which will start on 9 February, ahead of Chinese New Year. As per the new agreement between the two countries, Singaporean and Chinese tourists will be exempted from visa requirements for a stay of up to 30 days.
As outlined in the official statement, in a bid to meet the increase in tourists during the Chinese New Year, RWS and Alipay+ are jointly launching a campaign aimed exclusively at Alipay users. As part of the campaign, users will have access to special promotions and privileges within the Alipay app. RWS will similarly offer Alipay users a red packet for the Chinese New Year. Users can collect it through the Alipay app and use it to offset payments for the RWS mini program and on-site payments. The joint festive campaign between the two companies offers additional advantages beyond those previously mentioned.
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