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Ant Group
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Ant International pushes ‘significant’ expansion of Alipay+ tourist payment service amid major group overhaul

  • The company aims to add more partner wallets to the Alipay+ network and achieve a double-digit percentage increase in partnering merchants
  • Mobile payments made through 16 wallets supported by Alipay+ now account for 10 per cent of total tourist spending in Japan, Ant says

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Alipay+ lets smaller merchants, such as this shop in Tokyo, accept payments made using foreign digital wallets. Photo: Xinmei Shen
Xinmei Shenin Tokyo, Japan
Chinese financial technology giant Ant Group is looking to “significantly” expand the global presence of its cross-border mobile payment service Alipay+, as the company pursues an organisational overhaul that includes a spin-off of its international arm.
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Ant International aims to considerably boost the number of partner wallets supported by Alipay+ this year, possibly by more than 10, unit president Douglas Feagin told the Post on the sidelines of a briefing in Tokyo on Tuesday.

The company also hopes to achieve a double-digit percentage jump in international merchants served by Alipay+ this year, according to Feagin, adding that the firm’s strategy is to “fill out the coverage” across all Asian countries, and then expand to Europe and the US.

Alipay+, which helps small and medium-sized businesses take electronic payments from travellers using their own local apps, currently supports 25 digital wallets and covers 88 million merchants across 57 markets, Ant said in January.
The Alipay+ booth at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, last month. Photo: Xinhua
The Alipay+ booth at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, last month. Photo: Xinhua

Ant Group is an affiliate of Alibaba Group Holding, owner of the South China Morning Post.

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In Japan, Alipay+ has expanded to support 16 Asian mobile wallets and banking apps, covering 2 million merchants, Feagin said, allowing tourists from Hong Kong, Macau, Thailand, the Philippines and Malaysia to shop in Japan using payment apps at home.

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