Alipay expanded its partnership with First Data, adding 35,000 North American retailers that will accept the payments platform in stores. First Data plans to eventually expand Alipay to all four million of its U.S. clients, while Alipay seeks to expand its platform to millions of additional merchants in 2018.
FreedomPay, an e-Commerce payment solution provider, also formed a partnership with Alipay to accept the service at thousands of its clients in the travel and hospitality industries. FreedomPay has a strong presence in airports and travel plazas across the U.S.
More than 600 million Chinese consumers are registered to use Alipay, which gives them a familiar way to shop while traveling. Additionally, the app’s Discover function can direct potential customers to nearby retailers and provide them with promotional information.
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“We are thrilled with the significant interest we’ve seen from merchants who want to offer Alipay at the POS,” said Nandan Sheth, General Manager, Global Debit Solutions at First Data in a statement. “As our partnership continues to mature, we are excited to roll out Alipay on an even larger scale. Businesses that offer Alipay are able to benefit from the growing number of Chinese travelers coming to the U.S. by offering a frictionless payment experience that transcends country, currency and language barriers.”
As many as 91% of Chinese tourists would be would be more willing to shop and spend at overseas merchants that accept Chinese mobile payments, while 93% would use a mobile payment option overseas, according to a Nielsen report. Other key findings from the survey include:
- Significantly more Chinese tourists (65%) have used mobile payment while traveling overseas than non-Chinese tourists (11%);
- Most Chinese tourists (83%) would ask whether a local merchant supports mobile payments while abroad; and
- Shopping was ranked as the top category for Chinese tourists spending overseas (25%), above accommodations (19%) and dining (16%).
