Alipay, Chase Release Details On New Team-Up
Alipay’s efforts to smooth the way for Chinese tourism have only been on a rise for the last few months now, and one of the most recent was shown off just ahead of this year’s Money 20/20 show. Alipay got together with JPMorgan Chase in a bid to bring the mobile payment system to the full slate of Chase merchant clients out there.
The new effort would allow Alipay users to use their Discover feature—a geolocation-based tool that allows users to find where, in this case, Alipay is accepted near them—or receive push notifications to find compatible terminals. Once the terminal is located, the tourist in question can then make the call on shopping there. Additionally, users can receive promotional information and make further decisions about purchases.
Chase Merchant Services head of product and strategy Pablo Simone commented “We are always looking for ways to deliver more value to our merchants and bring them closer to their customers. A relationship with Alipay would create opportunities that enable Chinese tourists to transact in a way they are familiar with.”
It also provides an excellent way for Chase to push its merchant services to retailers; after all, with around four million Chinese consumers set to hit a variety of North American retailers by the end of this year alone, who would want to run the risk of not being in on that action?
Granted, such a move would be more effective in some places than in others—there’s a much greater chance that Chinese tourists will visit New York, Las Vegas or Los Angeles than, say, Wilmington, Topeka or Mackinaw City—so Chase could really focus its own marketing efforts accordingly. It’s a prospect that would be difficult for a business in a likely Chinese destination to pass up.
Still though, in the end, this really underscores the point that Alipay is out to be the big name in Chinese tourism spending, and will probably be unopposed in that field. Even Apple Pay has barely caught on in China, and WeChat Pay, Alipay’s biggest rival, hasn’t staged much of an expansion outside of the country yet that we’ve heard of. Alipay will likely be the one to beat going forward, and may not be all that beatable to begin with.