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Mobile payments

Ant International’s new AI model for cross-border transactions is expected to strengthen global trade and commerce. Photo: Shutterstock

Ant International drives AI in cross-border payments to boost global expansion

The firm’s AI model predicts currency exchange rates on an hourly basis, helping businesses reduce transaction costs.

Ant CEO Eric Jing touts tokenisation benefits for cross-border transactions

Shopping on Taobao via WeChat: Tencent, Alibaba break digital wall

Chinese tech giants from ByteDance to Meituan see rise in ‘golden week’ spending

Major online platforms for dining and travel-booking services recorded increased expenditure by mainland consumers during the annual holiday.

Mainland consumers splurged on travel and dining services provided by major online platforms during the annual break. Photo: Bloomberg

Tencent says WeChat payments jump during China’s ‘golden week’

Consumers in China appear to have loosened their purse strings after Beijing announced a slew of heavyweight measures to boost the economy.

Alipay sees surge in travel transactions during China’s ‘golden week’ holiday

During the first four days of the holiday, the number of transactions made via Alipay in overseas markets surged 60 per cent year on year.

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Ant International teams up with EPL’s Tottenham Hotspur in global expansion push

Singapore-based Ant International will serve as Tottenham Hotspur’s exclusive global payment solutions provider and digital wallet partner.

Ant International expects to score big under a strategic partnership with English Premier League football club Tottenham Hotspur. Photo: Shutterstock

Wave to pay: Tencent brings palm scan to tourists in Macau

WeChat Palm Pay lets mainland tourists pay by scanning their hand in shops located in hotels under the Galaxy Entertainment Group.

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Ant Group to hold new round of dividend payments to shareholders

This would mark the third round of dividend payments by Ant Group, following two previous rounds in December and March 2022.

Momo, Vietnam’s Alipay, sees growth in digital wave, expanding middle class

Vietnam’s mobile-payments leader is expanding its presence in offline consumption while boosting financial services and merchant solutions.

People use smartphones as they drink tea by a road in Hanoi. Photo: Bloomberg

Alibaba merchants hail WeChat Pay adoption on Taobao and Tmall

Many hope that the move could lure more consumers from rival platforms that already accept a variety of payment methods.

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Alibaba’s Taobao and Tmall will start making WeChat Pay available for merchants next week. Photo: Shutterstock

Fintech giant Ant Group launches AI personal assistant app in China

Zhixiaobao, a play on the Chinese name for Alipay, helps users with daily tasks such as ordering meals or hailing taxis through text or voice prompts.

WeChat Pay comes to Taobao: Alibaba and Tencent bury the hatchet

Alibaba is soliciting feedback from merchants about accepting China’s second-largest mobile payments network on the country’s largest e-commerce sites.

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Alibaba-backed e-wallet operator buys Ant Bank Macao

The acquisition makes Ant Bank Macao an indirect subsidiary of AGTech, while Ant Group remains the bank’s second-largest shareholder.

Signage for Ant’s Alipay payment system. Photo: Bloomberg

HKMA fines Tencent’s WeChat Pay unit HK$875,000 for due diligence failures

The HKMA’s investigation covered a period of five years up to October 2021, during which time WeChat Pay failed to implement adequate measures and controls.

WeChat Pay Hong Kong has been fined for lapses in implementing customer due diligence procedures. Photo: Shutterstock

China’s internet users near 1.1 billion, driven by short videos

In the first half of 2024, more than a third of China’s new internet users were drawn to short video apps, a government survey shows.

Payment tokens change the game for Asia-Pacific’s businesses

Visa Token Service boosts sales, accelerates revenues and reduces payment declines for clients including Adyen, Afterpay and Foodpanda.

In partnership with:
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Opinion | How China can make life better for foreign and domestic tourists alike

Refining entry policies, mobile payment systems and rail travel can help make the mainland an easier and more welcoming travel destination.

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Foreign tourists walk near the Forbidden City in Beijing on August 13. According to the National Immigration Administration, the country recorded about 14.6 million entries by foreign tourists in the first half of 2024, an increase of more than 150 per cent year on year. Photo: EPA-EFE

Letters | Hong Kong must not mix up ‘check-in’ and ‘in-depth’ tourism

Readers discuss the limits of social media-driven ‘check-in tourism’, the real reason some Hong Kong businesses don’t take digital payments, and breaking up the DSE exam into two.

Tencent profit jumps 82% on back of strong video gaming, ad growth

Tencent’s profit grew to US$6.6 billion in the second quarter, while revenue rose 8 per cent to US$22.5 billion.

Tencent’s WeChat keeps fine balance as everyday app and public-service platform

With more than 1.3 billion monthly active users, WeChat’s every technical update and policy change are closely scrutinised on the mainland.

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WeChat, marketed as Weixin on the mainland, is a well-entrenched online tool for everyday life in the world’s second-largest economy. Photo: Shutterstock

Opinion | China’s tourism policy must now go beyond visa-free travel

China must make it easier for foreigners to experience the country and citizens to travel abroad if it wants to reconnect with the world.

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Illustration: Craig Stephens

Alipay drives evolution of contactless payments in China with new tap-and-pay service

Alipay expects its Tap! service, which is being rolled out in major cities across mainland China, to ‘expedite in-store mobile payments’.

Ant Group-backed Paytm gets India’s nod to invest in payments arm

The approval, which still has to be vetted by the finance ministry, will remove the main stumbling block to the unit, Paytm Payment Services, resuming normal business operations.

Hong Kong’s Octopus to waive transfer fees for first HK$10,000 made by merchants

E-payment service provider to introduce threshold from August 1, as part of efforts to reduce financial pressure on service users.

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Octopus has said the move aims to support small businesses. Photo: K. Y. Cheng

Fintech giant Ant Group spins off database firm as Alibaba affiliates take stake

A shareholder restructuring for OceanBase, which develops the database tech behind Alipay, gives 35 companies a stake, paving the way to a possible public listing

Fintech giant Ant Group is spinning off the subsidiary responsible for the database behind Alipay. Photo: Bloomberg

Quelled by cashless: China’s bank branches, ATMs dwindle in land of e-payments

Some bank customers in China have been warned about trying to withdraw the daily limit of 20,000 yuan without making an appointment to ensure that their branch has the cash on hand.

China’s ‘super apps’, visa-free travel help send love to Singapore goalie

A Muslim food stall owned by footballer Hassan Sunny has been inundated with gracious Chinese fans who also took advantage of a new visa-free-travel policy with Singapore.

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Mobile payments
Cash is history. Whether its ordering groceries from our smartphone or using it to pay for the bus, these companies and services are changing the way we pay for goods and services.
last updated:
9 September, 2024
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