Wirecard to process Alipay payments for Chinese tourists

Wirecard Group and Alipay, a related company of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, have signed a partnership that will allow Chinese tourists visiting Europe to use its mobile phone payment services.

It is hoped that the partnership will enable European brands and retailers to tap into the Chinese tourism market, which is estimated to be worth 165 billion dollars according to the World Tourism Organisation.

In Europe, the payments process will be run through Wirecard and run on existing payment terminals with no software upgrades necessary, the companies said in a joint statement.

Alipay has more than 400 million active users of its payment systems in China, owning over 50 percent of the market share in online payment and 80 percent of the mobile payments. Its mobile wallet is being widely used for payments in online shops and also at the point-of-sale in China. Now, Chinese shoppers will be able to pay with their smartphone and Alipay app at authorised POS retailers in Europe by using integrated barcode payment functionality from Wirecard.

“In Wirecard, we have found a strong and flexible partner. Our plan is to enable an easy rollout of our payment and value-added services solution to various merchants in Europe,” said Rita Liu, Head of Europe of Alipay. “Our customers have very high trust in our brand as Alipay is an essential part of their daily life. We are therefore confident that many users will be using our new, convenient and cashless offer when travelling to Europe.”