Ant Group's Alipay updates app's international interface to support Visa, Mastercard, other major credit cards ahead of 2023 Asian Games
Alipay, the digital payment service run by financial technology giant Ant Group, has updated its app's international interface to support overseas travellers to China, including facilitating credit card purchases made via Visa, Mastercard, Diners Club, Discover and JCB.
The update was made ahead of the 2023 Asian Games to be held in Hangzhou, capital of eastern Zhejiang province, from September 23 to October 8, according to Ant's announcement on Thursday at this year's edition of its Alipay Partner Conference.
Holders of those popular credit cards are encouraged to register and link their card information with Alipay so that they can make payments to tens of millions of merchants across China via its app, which is a ubiquitous digital settlement platform nationwide along with Tencent Holdings' WeChat Pay.
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Ant, an affiliate of Alibaba Group Holding, initially announced in June its plan for Alipay to support overseas travellers who use those major credit cards issued by foreign financial services providers. Alibaba owns the South China Morning Post.
An overseas traveller pays with the Alipay app at a restaurant in China. Photo: Handout alt=An overseas traveller pays with the Alipay app at a restaurant in China. Photo: Handout>
"We will continue to optimise our products and services to better serve international visitors to China by enhancing their travel experience with convenient mobile payment services," Jin Yaoyao, Alipay's product lead in charge of its app's international version, said in a statement on Thursday. "We also encourage more merchants and service providers operating digitally on the Alipay platform to enhance their services for international travellers."
Alipay's latest initiative underscores efforts in China to make it easier for foreign tourists and the country's less tech-savvy elderly population to integrate into a cashless society, in which contactless payment has become the norm.
That digital payment support comes at a time when China faces "huge difficulties" in inbound tourism, months after the country reopened its borders to foreign tourists in March.
Hangzhou, for example, is desperate for overseas travellers amid a slowdown in inbound tourism. The eastern city, one of mainland China's top tourist destinations, has accommodated 53 million visitors in the first half of this year, but the number of cross-border travellers - both inbound and outbound - via its international airport reached only 877,000 in the same period.
The Alipay app's updated international interface now provides multiple language options and an easy-to-use translation tool, according to the Ant announcement. It also integrates travel services, including hotel and air-ticket booking, ride-hailing, public transport and exchange rate comparisons.
The updated version also includes services related to the Asian Games through the "Smart Hangzhou" mini-program, Ant said.
The Asian Games in Hangzhou were to be held last year, but was postponed to 2023 because of the rigid Covid-19 control measures implemented by the Chinese government.
This article originally appeared in the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the most authoritative voice reporting on China and Asia for more than a century. For more SCMP stories, please explore the SCMP app or visit the SCMP's Facebook and Twitter pages. Copyright © 2023 South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.
Copyright (c) 2023. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.
