Motion Pay Clears New Canadian Milestone

The good news about the mobile payment industry right now is that it still seems to be growing, sufficiently so to allow for several different firms to coexist in the market space without devouring each other and cannibalizing markets. One point that displays this fact nicely is Motion Pay Technology, whose Motion Pay system just added its 600th Canadian merchant, Eyestar Optical.

Motion Pay actually represents an unusual proposition; it’s not really targeting Canadians so much as Canadian businesses. It’s actually targeting the Chinese tourist trade, as well as those Chinese living in Canada temporarily whether as students or engaging in trade in the region. Motion Pay offers a complete payment solution designed to readily take said Chinese travelers’ Alipay and WeChat Pay accounts. It also gives Canadian retailers the ability to accept payment in renminbi readily.

Here, Eyestar Optical joins a string of firms across a wide variety of market sectors from fashion retailers like Miniso Life to travel services like Calgary Tours. Seafood markets, wineries, jewelers and more are also in on the action.

Riven Zhang, Motion Pay’s CEO and co-founder, noted “By providing its Chinese customers with convenient access to Alipay and WeChat Pay in their home accounts, Eyestar Optical is gaining a sales advantage and the potential for greater customer loyalty within the Vancouver and Toronto Chinese communities.”

Offering services to the growing Chinese tourist class is a great way to find a market niche these days, because that particular niche is substantial enough to be an actual market in many other countries. We’ve already seen it work with Alipay, who’s been frantically trying to get a presence in as many potential tourist destinations as possible. Seeing it here with Motion Pay, who’s effectively looking to be a facilitator of sorts for Alipay, is just an extension of that.

The Chinese are likely to have a major impact on mobile payments trade for some time to come thanks to the sheer size of their market, and firms like Motion Pay are poised to take advantage of that market in a big way.