Chinese New Year by the numbers — Alibaba — “More than 251 million people used Alipay to collect RMB 500m ($78.8m) worth of red packets as part of the platform’s New Year promotions… The exchanges came from countries as far as Argentina and Norway, and from a total of over 2,300 cities worldwide.”
Alibaba
Alipay parent Ant Financial to go public at a $100bn valuation?
China’s Ant plans equity fundraising at potential $100 billion valuation — Reuters — “China’s Ant Financial Services Group is planning to raise up to US$5bn (£3.59bn) in fresh equity that could value the online payments giant at more than US$100bn… A fundraising would bring Ant, in which e-commerce firm Alibaba Group Holding Ltd is taking a one-third stake, a step closer to a hotly anticipated initial public offering.”
Apple to accept Alipay mobile payments at its stores in China
Apple brings Alibaba-linked payment system into China stores amid market push — Reuters — “The tie-up will make Alipay, run by Alibaba affiliate Ant Financial, the first third-party mobile payment system to be accepted at any physical Apple store worldwide… The Cupertino-based firm will accept Alipay payment across its 41 brick-and-mortar retail stores in China.”
Chinese mobile payment platforms are now used by 527m people
China’s mobile payment users hit 527 million in 2017 — ECNS — “China had a total of 527m mobile payment users at the end of last year, up by 57.8m from a year before… WeChat Pay, one of China’s major mobile payment service providers, attracted over 800m validated users by September 2017. The number of monthly offline payments was 280% higher than that from a year ago… Alipay, the online payment platform under ecommerce giant Alibaba, launched in 36 overseas destinations, benefiting hundreds of thousands of merchants. Overseas transactions surged by 306% in the last year when compared with 2016.”
Alibaba takes 33% stake in Alipay operator Ant Financial
Alibaba agrees to 33% stake in Ant Financial — Alibaba — “An equity stake in Ant Financial will bring key strategic benefits to Alibaba, including advancing its New Retail strategy with mobile payments, increasing user acquisition and retention through collaboration with the Alipay digital wallet (“Alipay Wallet”), and enhancing the execution of the international expansion… Upon closing, the companies will terminate the current profit-sharing arrangement under which Ant Financial pays royalty and technology service fees in an amount equal to 37.5% of its pre-tax profits to Alibaba.”
Malaysia’s first cashierless store opens in Subang Jaya
Malaysia’s first self-service convenience store has opened in Subang Jaya — Says — “Following the likes of Amazon and Alibaba, an e-payment operator has opened Malaysia’s first unmanned, self-service convenience store… Customers are required to download the Irispay app, fill in personal details, and scan the QR code on the products before making payment.”
Alipay reports mobile payments adoption stats
Mobile devices handle some 80% of Alipay’s online payments in 2017 — ECNS — “New data from Alipay show 82% of the transactions on its platform in 2017 were made through mobile devices, mostly smart phones. This ratio is said to be an all-time high… There were 520m Alipay users in China, or around 37% of the country’s population, in 2017… More than 40m small retailers across China, according to Alipay, established their own quick response codes in 2017… Bus and subway networks in more than 30 Chinese cities began allowing passengers to pay fares via Alipay through 2017.”
Honda to let drivers use Alipay to make payments from cars
Honda to team up with Alibaba in connected cars — Nikkei Asian Review — “The Japanese automaker will work with the Chinese e-retailing titan’s AutoNavi business. They plan to develop a service that lets drivers make reservations using AutoNavi maps and make payments via Alibaba’s online platform Alipay. Decisions will be made soon on when to make the service available on which vehicles.”
China UnionPay launches mobile wallet app
UnionPay takes mobile payment services fight to Alibaba and Tencent with integrated app — South China Morning Post — “UnionPay said the app could be linked to more than one bank account by different banks with all of their mobile payment services accepted and conducted via the platform… The country’s dominant bank card clearing service provider also launched a nationwide promotional campaign with aggressive discounts to attract consumers who have been increasingly using Alipay and Tenpay services for shopping.”
Alipay pushes into Hong Kong, India, Thailand and the Philippines with Christmas shopping festival
Alipay to hold online 24-hour Christmas shopping festival as part of expansion push — South China Morning Post — “The event will take place in Hong Kong, India, Thailand and the Philippines with Alipay partners in each location: Hutchison in Hong Kong, Paytm in India, Truemoney in Thailand and GCash in the Philippines… As part of the December event, the AlipayHK joint venture has partnered with more than 8,000 bricks-and-mortar stores to offer exclusive gifts, discounts and rewards.”
Paytm CEO sets out plans to become the world’s largest digital bank
Alibaba-backed Paytm aims to become world’s largest digital bank — Bloomberg — “Paytm Payments Bank aims to create the world’s largest digital bank with 500m accounts, envisioning an online financial services provider of everything from wealth management to credit cards and stock market trading… The bank grew out of Paytm’s digital wallet, which amassed over a hundred million customers after India took high-denomination bills — or nearly 90% of the value of cash — out of circulation last November.”
Hong Kong transit operator to test WeChat Pay and Alipay
Contactless competition: WeChat Pay is coming to Hong Kong’s MTR, and Alipay may not be far behind — South China Morning Post — “Commuters on Hong Kong’s MTR will soon be given a new quick payment option as the railway operator has partnered with the mainland’s second-largest mobile payment provider WeChat Pay, it announced on Thursday. WeChat Pay’s main rival, Alipay, said it would follow suit in the ‘near future’… While the initiative arguably benefits mainland tourists more than Hongkongers, it breaks a 20-year stronghold by the contactless Octopus card on how train fares can be paid for.”
Chinese consumers made 1.48bn Alipay purchases on Singles Day
Spending climbs by 39% on this year’s Singles Day — China Daily — “Bargain hunters splurged by spending a record 168.2bn yuan (US$25.3bn) during this year’s Singles Day… Nine out of 10 people used mobile wallet apps for payment, said Alibaba, with its Alipay app having handled 1.48bn transactions in 24 hours and processed them at a peak rate of 256,000 transactions per second.”
Indian mobile wallet giant Paytm plans expansion to US, Japan and Europe
India’s top payment app has eyes on US market — Wall Street Journal — “India’s largest mobile payment app — backed by the likes of China’s Alibaba Group Holding Ltd and Japan’s SoftBank Group Corp — has its eye on the US, its founder said. Speaking at The Wall Street Journal’s D.Live Singapore event, Paytm founder and chief executive Vijay Shekhar Sharma said his aim is to expand into developed markets, also including Japan and Europe.”
Chinese mobile payment volumes top US$3tn in Q2 2017
China’s third-party mobile payment market continues rapid expansion — Xinhua — “In the second quarter of 2017, third-party mobile payment transactions amounted to 23tn yuan (about US$3.46tn), up 22.5% from the previous quarter… Alipay, Alibaba’s mobile payment service, led the market with a 53.7% share, followed by Tencent Finance, with a 39.1% share.”
Alipay uses face verification to unlock delivery boxes
Alibaba testing face recognition technology — AsiaOne — “An army of specially equipped kiosks have been installed across five locations at Shanghai’s financial district of Lujiazui, with cameras scanning people’s faces to verify their identities… Users need to subscribe to a service embedded in the Alipay digital wallet, which gives the app the green light to capture their personal information to confirm their identity”.
Alibaba’s self-service Tao Cafe takes e-shopping offline
Alibaba’s self-service Tao Cafe takes e-shopping offline — Xinhua — “Entry into Tao Cafe in Hangzhou, capital of east China’s Zhejiang Province, is through ticket gates similar to those at subway stations, however, customers scan their smart phones instead of tickets… The 200-square-meter store offering beverages, fast food and snacks can accommodate 50 customers at a time. To enter and make a purchase, shoppers require only a smart phone with Alibaba’s Taobao ecommerce app.”
Alibaba challenges Google, Amazon with new Echo-like device
Alibaba challenges Google, Amazon with new Echo-like device — Bloomberg — “Importantly, the gadget — powered by the AliGenie system — may eventually simplify shopping for the Chinese e-commerce giant’s 450 million active buyers who turn to the website for everything from cherries to makeup. It will begin formal sales from August 8 only for China and won’t come with a display.”
In China, Amazon’s ‘store of the future’ is already open
In China, Amazon’s ‘store of the future’ is already open — Tech In Asia — “This is a typical Bingobox store… A shopper opens the door – and registers with the startup – through WeChat, the popular messaging app… The customer has to scan each item’s barcode. And then pay on their phone, either via WeChat or Alibaba’s mobile wallet app, Alipay. As you leave the store, a camera checks you’re taking out only the stuff you paid for.”
Jack Ma’s Ant Financial nearly doubles profits amid deal push
Jack Ma’s Ant Financial nearly doubles profits amid deal push — Bloomberg — “The company controlled by Alibaba’s billionaire co-founder Jack Ma racked up an 86% jump in pretax profit to 5.56 billion yuan ($814 million) in the year ended March, according to Bloomberg’s calculations… Since starting as Alipay in 2004, Ant Financial has grown into an online giant that controls more than half of China’s $5.5 trillion mobile payments market.”