Alipay Targets Europe to Pursue Chinese Tourist Trade

When a country gets a growing middle class—much as ours did in the post World War II days—tourism becomes an option, and one that a lot of folks look to take up.

In China, that’s increasingly the case, and as many newly-minted Chinese middle class look to take trips to Europe and the like, so too is Alipay planning an expansion, specifically to offer services to Chinese tourists in Europe.

This isn’t a first for Alipay; it’s been laying the foundation of expansion for some time now. Earlier this year, it struck deals with Worldpay, Wirecard and Concardis which allowed it greater access to European markets.

It’s making some other deals as well to improve its push, and gain access specifically to some of Europe’s biggest markets, including France, Germany, and recent Brexit target Great Britain.

Interestingly, Alipay is only making these expansions with the Chinese tourist in mind; it wants no real access to the European market itself, which means it will only be a roundabout competitors to the other mobile payment brands which may not have much of a Chinese presence to begin with.

Given that Chinese tourists spent about $215 billion abroad just in 2015, it’s easy to see why Alipay is eager to get a slice of that action for itself.

What’s more, since Chinese tourists would be familiar with Alipay, making Alipay available in more countries improves the chances that said tourists will stick with the familiar brand when traveling abroad.

European brands, in turn, are less likely to take counter-marketing measures against Alipay since Alipay is actively pursuing only customers that said European brands likely couldn’t get much hold of anyway.

Alipay here can take great advantage of the fact that it’s the biggest game in town when it comes to Chinese mobile payments, and the more place that Alipay—or any other mobile payment system—can be used, the better off it is.

Alipay is likely to hold its customer base abroad, and though not all of its mobile customers will welcome the chance to use Alipay abroad, if it can even get a tenth of the overseas spend, that’s still a hefty shot in the profit margin.

This move should be a profitable one for Alipay as it seeks to secure its Chinese market by being the payment platform of choice, even when outside the country.