Bluecode has expanded interoperable QR payments to 60 destinations through a collaboration with Alipay+, Ant International's wallet gateway.
The expansion adds new destinations across Africa, Asia, Oceania, and South America, enabling users of hundreds of Bluecode's participating issuing members to conduct cross-border mobile payments at millions of merchants. The partnership with Alipay+ was first established in 2024 to facilitate cross-border payments within Europe; the latest development marks a broadening of that geographic scope.
European travellers now have an alternative to card schemes when paying abroad, operating within the same QR-based infrastructure they are accustomed to domestically. The system incorporates anonymous payment processes and biometric authentication to protect personal and transaction data during cross-border use.
Alipay+ is currently accepted across a range of Asian destinations, including Hong Kong (SAR, China), Malaysia, Singapore, Cambodia, Japan, and South Korea, where merchants can now receive QR payments from Bluecode users. The integration covers a broad range of merchant types, including retail and department stores, tourist attractions, convenience stores, and public transport networks.
Roadmap and technical architecture
According to the official press release, the partnership is set to extend further in 2026 to include the Chinese mainland and Thailand, connecting users with additional merchants across Asia. The long-term roadmap targets coverage of over 220 markets supported by Alipay+ globally.
The solution operates on a 'Payment Roaming' model, in which the sole legal, technical, and commercial relationship for Bluecode member banks and their users remains with Bluecode. Payments are initiated either by presenting or scanning a QR code at the merchant's point of sale, depending on the location and use case. The functionality is available through the Bluecode app on iOS and Android. The Bluecode Software Development Kit (SDK) additionally enables any banking app or payment wallet to process payments at Alipay+ enabled merchants, and the architecture is designed so that other European payment schemes can adopt the solution through Bluecode's central interoperability hub.
Christian Pirkner, Chief Executive Officer of Bluecode, described the approach as drawing on the same principle applied in mobile telecommunications roaming, stating the company remains committed to developing European payment solutions with global acceptance.
In addition, Pietro Candela, General Manager of Europe at Alipay+, said the collaboration illustrates how European payment schemes can operate securely and seamlessly across borders while maintaining their local foundations, framing the arrangement as a payment bridge connecting Europe and Asia.
Alipay+ connects over two billion user accounts across more than 50 mobile payment providers, including e-wallets and banking apps, and serves more than 150 million QR merchants and 150 million NFC merchants in over 220 markets.
