Alipay news and trends

Mastercard and Alipay Expand ‘Consumer Friendly Zones’ in China

July 03, 2024
Alipay display in store
China Negotiating With Visa, Mastercard to Reduce Transaction Fees
Credit Cards // June 21, 2024

China is reportedly negotiating with Visa, Mastercard and other global card issuers, seeking to reduce the fees they charge local merchants on foreign card transactions. The Payment & Clearing Association of China has proposed that the card issuers reduce their fees from the current range...

Alipay+ Looks to Expand as eWallet Use Grows
Mobile Wallets // May 06, 2024

China’s Ant Group is reportedly looking to expand use of its payments product Alipay+. “What we found is that people want to use their home e-wallets when they travel abroad. So they don’t want to have to load their card into another app that they don’t know as well,” Douglas...

Digital Wallets Provide Local Touch to Connected Travel Experiences
Mobile Wallets // April 29, 2024

Alipay+ unveiled a cross-border payments initiative in a move to boost Hong Kong’s tourism and commerce sector. The platform facilitates transactions for users of 14 overseas mobile wallets and bank apps from nine countries and regions. Among the eWallets and bank apps newly introduced to the city’s landscape are Hipay from Mongolia, Malaysia’s MyPB by Public Bank Berhad and Touch ’n...

Alipay Launches ‘Consumer Friendly Zones’ in China
Retail // April 08, 2024

Alipay has launched a series of “International Consumer Friendly Zones” in China. The company’s owner, owned by China’s Ant Group, announced Monday (April 8) it is working with local merchants, tourism sites and commercial districts to enhance international visitors’ experience and drive business for local...

Interviews & Exclusives
Mastercard’s Partnership With Alipay Connects Digital Wallets to Cross-Border Payments

March 25, 2024
Alan Marquard, head of transfer solutions at Mastercard, told PYMNTS that remittances are ripe for continued transformation — to digital channels, and to digital wallets, which make international fund flows cheaper, faster and more convenient. Earlier this month, Mastercard announced a new connection with China’s Alipay, which enables bank, FinTech and corporate clients to offer […]

What If: Elon Musk’s X Becomes the Next Super App?

August 03, 2023
Super apps like Alibaba’s Alipay and Tencent’s WeChat have become super successful in Asia. Their market dominance in turn has made Western entrepreneurs “super” interested in building their own, perhaps...

Trump Executive Order On WeChat, Alipay And Others Catch Consumers In The Middle

January 06, 2021
Call it the latest salvo amid tensions between China and the United States that may heat up. With the consumer in focus. To that end, outgoing President Donald J. Trump...

QR Codes Enjoy A Renaissance In A Post-COVID World

July 08, 2020
QR codes have been around for years, although they often seemed like a marginal tech solution in search of a problem. But as is the case with so many things in...

Quick Reads
Mastercard and Alipay Expand ‘Consumer Friendly Zones’ in China

July 03, 2024
Mastercard is expanding its travel payments partnership with China’s Ant Group. The companies announced Wednesday (July 3) that they — along with 12 overseas payment partners of Ant Group’s Alipay+ and other major international card organizations — have extended the International Consumer Friendly Zones program to the major western Chinese cities of Chengdu and Chongqing. The extension, the […]

China Negotiating With Visa, Mastercard to Reduce Transaction Fees

June 21, 2024
China is reportedly negotiating with Visa, Mastercard and other global card issuers, seeking to reduce the fees they charge local merchants on foreign card transactions. The Payment & Clearing Association...

Alipay+ Looks to Expand as eWallet Use Grows

May 06, 2024
China’s Ant Group is reportedly looking to expand use of its payments product Alipay+. “What we found is that people want to use their home e-wallets when they travel abroad. So they don’t want...

Alipay Launches ‘Consumer Friendly Zones’ in China

April 08, 2024
Alipay has launched a series of “International Consumer Friendly Zones” in China. The company’s owner, owned by China’s Ant Group, announced Monday (April 8) it is working with local merchants,...