“No joke: Alipay instead of Paypal” or “Alipay dethrones Paypal” were the headlines in trade magazines five years ago. Since then, however, little has happened in Germany. Many retailers are still struggling with the payment system from the Far East. In many Asian countries, however, Alipay is becoming increasingly popular.
As the online payment provider and Alibaba affiliate ANT Financial announced last Thursday, Alipay will soon be supported by the popular Japanese POS network. This will soon give Chinese tourists in Japan the opportunity to pay in over 170,000 stores using the Alibaba app. “Exchange rate fluctuations between the yen and yuan have been one of the main concerns of Chinese tourists,” believes Emma Lee, editor of the digital blog Technode. The possibility of paying with the Alipay wallet means that this problem will no longer be an issue, as tourists now only need to exchange a very small amount of money for yen. Japanese retailers also want to encourage Chinese tourists to use Alipay by offering them discounts when paying online.
170,000 partner stores in Japan, 6,000 in Korea
In October, POS initially wanted to start making Alipay available in 200 stores. A total of 176,000 stores are to follow by the end of the year. According to Technode, these are mainly large shopping centers such as Bic Camera, PARCO, Umikaji Terra,e and the duty-free zones of major airports. Alipay has been used as a means of payment on the major e-commerce platforms Rakuten and Yahoo! Shopping in Japan for several years.
With 2.2 million tourists, twice as many Chinese came to Japan in 2014 as in the previous year. Korea has long been a popular travel destination for Chinese tourists, so it is not surprising that Alibaba is expanding its presence there. Just like at home, Chinese tourists can use their Alipay wallet there. The offer is by no means limited to a small number of duty-free shops, as was the case a few years ago. According to the trade magazine Business Korea, Alipay can now be used in over 6,000 shops.
Growing interest in the Indian e-commerce market
India has rarely been the focus of Chinese tourists. However, the subcontinent has been playing an increasingly important role as a sales market for Chinese products for some time. Less than two weeks ago, Alibaba confirmed its interest in the Indian e-commerce market by making a major investment in the Indian online company PayTM. As the Financial Times reports, Alibaba initially intended to invest 375 million US dollars but decided shortly afterward to increase the amount to 500 million US dollars. This means that Alibaba is acquiring 20% of the payment provider – a subsidiary of the Indian company One97. Whether in Japan, Korea, or India: Alipay is playing an increasingly important role in cashless payment transactions online and offline.
Due to the growing number of Chinese tourists, retailers in Korea and Japan in particular are interested in the payment system. But Alipay is also attracting increasing interest in India.