Shanghai Metro to accept mobile-app payments — Caixin — “QR code-readers are being installed in all 389 metro stations in the city, which will allow passengers to use an app developed by metro operator Shanghai Shentong Metro Group. The app – dubbed ‘Metro daduhui’ – will connect to the payments systems of Alipay and China UnionPay.”
Alipay
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.”
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.”
Shanghai Metro installs QR code readers at turnstiles
Shanghai Metro will soon allow QR code payments — ECNS — “With QR code readers being installed at turnstiles in several Shanghai metro stations, subway passengers can pay their tickets via Alipay or China UnionPay simply by scanning the QR code. Maglev train stations at Pudong International Airport and Longyang Road will also accept QR payments.”
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.”
Ant Financial signs mobile wallet joint venture deal in Hong Kong
CK Hutchison and Ant Financial form strategic partnership to provide digital financial inclusive services in Hong Kong — CK Hutchison — “The two companies will form a joint venture to offer a consumer-oriented digital wallet under the ‘AlipayHK’ brand… CK Hutchison Group and its affiliated companies’ consumer networks have over 124m retail loyalty members and over 123m telecom and 35m utility customers… The joint venture is expected to be completed by the end of 2017, subject to regulatory approval.”
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”.
Ant Financial plans Alipay feature to connect merchants and customers
Ant Financial plans Alipay feature to connect merchants and customers — China Daily — “The ‘Life Account’, embedded in the Alipay app, allows its 520 million users to search nearby merchants, receive discount coupons, make appointments and conduct payments… It also helps business and social entities tap into their key clients by identifying their location and consumption preferences.”
Alipay launches ‘Smile to Pay’ for commercial use in China
Alipay launches ‘Smile to Pay’ for commercial use in China — Alizila — “Smile to Pay, the first service of its type, debuted at a KFC’s new, healthy-food concept restaurant, called KPRO, in Hangzhou. With it, Alipay users can authenticate their payments through a combination of facial scanning and inputting their mobile phone numbers. That means they won’t need to break out their wallets — or even smartphones — anymore.”
Apple accepts WeChat Pay in bid to reverse sales decline
Apple accepts WeChat Pay in bid to reverse sales decline — China Daily — “Apple said it is ‘excited’ to introduce Chinese customers using WeChat Pay to purchase apps or subscribe to Apple Music, and will continue to offer payment options that are simple and convenient…. It previously supported credit card transactions, its indigenous Apple Pay, China’s UnionPay, and Alipay, WeChat Pay’s biggest rival.”
Barclaycard pilots Alipay payments in eight retail stores across UK
Barclaycard pilots Alipay payments in eight retail stores across UK — Banking Technology — “The pilot will commence on 14 August 2017 in eight retail stores across the UK, with Barclaycard providing the POS solution for payments via Alipay. The service will be available in CNY (‘offered at a competitive exchange rate,’ Barclaycard says).”
Big banks on notice that they’re losing ground to China’s fintech giants
Big banks on notice that they’re losing ground to China’s fintech giants — South China Morning Post — “Tencent, the Chinese company, over Chinese New Year, in five days processed 46 billion payments. Basically that means 800 million payments per hour. Visa has a maximum capacity of processing 25,000 payments per second. But Alipay can process 50,000 payments, twice as much, per second.”
Mobile payments in China: How the tech giants are changing the future of payments
An in-depth article that provides an expert analysis of how the traditionally cash-focused landscape in China has been “completely transformed” by the introduction of digital and mobile payment services like Alipay and WeChat Pay is now available to download free of charge from the NFC World Knowledge Centre... More
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.”
Chinese mobile payment apps launch in Vancouver, Toronto
Chinese mobile payment apps launch in Vancouver, Toronto — The Globe and Mail — “OTT Financial Inc is working with Chinese Internet giants Tencent and Alibaba to introduce their mobile-payment infrastructure in Canada. The two apps, WeChat Pay and Alipay, are linked with users’ credit cards and allows them to make payments in renminbi, which is then converted to Canadian dollars before it’s transferred to merchants.”
Chinese mobile payments exceed US$1tn in one quarter
China’s third-party mobile payments market reached RMB 9,041.9 billion (US$ 1314.23 billion) in size during Q3 2016, a quarter on quarter increase of 20.5%, according to research published by China-based Analysys... More