Noting the recovery of international tourism and the popularity of mobile wallets, cross-border payments company Thunes has partnered with Ant Group’s Alipay+ to enable merchants in Europe to accept the mobile wallets that are most popular among Asian consumers.
With this partnership, merchants will be able to accept payments both online and in-store from the mobile wallets Alipay, Boost, GCash, KakaoPay, Rabbit LINE Pay, Touch ’n Go and True Money, according to a Wednesday (Aug. 31) press release.
“This partnership will allow merchants to engage with shoppers through their favorite digital payment tools both online and in-store, and help speed up the digitalization and globalization of their business operation,” Ant Group Country Manager for France Kevin Liu said in the release.
As PYMNTS reported in January, the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region has traditionally been considered a leader in digital payments and is expected to comprise half of the world’s noncash transactions by 2025.
Read more: The Explosive Growth of Mobile Payments for Cross-Border Transactions
One major contributor to this growth is the surging popularity of mobile commerce, and that in turn has been driven by the soaring share of individuals worldwide with access to mobile devices and rising rates of mobile wallet use, according to the “Cross-Border Retail Payments Tracker,” a PYMNTS and Citcon collaboration.
“Mobile wallets are becoming the primary payment method across Asian consumers, and with international tourism demonstrating steady recovery, we expect to see significant demand for this solution from our 100,000 merchants,” Thunes Collections Managing Director Christophe Bourbier said in the press release announcing the company’s partnership with Alipay+.
The alternative payment methods popular with consumers in Asia that are now available via Thunes join the ones used by customers in Europe, Latin America and Africa that were already available via the company, according to the release.
“Thunes’ partnership with Alipay+ creates a truly global shopping experience for buyers and represents another major step in our mission to make payments borderless and inclusive,” Bourbier said in the release.
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