Alipay Makes Expansion Into Finland Ahead of Chinese New Year

With the Chinese New Year approaching, and Chinese tourists likely considering where to go for the resultant holiday, it’s no surprise that Alipay would announce another new expansion. It dropped word our way recently about such an expansion, and now, it’s stepped into Finland, with not only taxi companies but also tourist attractions in several major locations now fully equipped to accept the Alipay mobile payments system.

In fact, it’s not just that Finland’s ready, but that it’s already successfully played host to a completely cashless journey from China to Finland. Everything from booking a flight to buying things in Helsinki was done completely over the Alipay interface.

This development elevates Finland to something of a world first, at last report; Finland is now the first country outside of China that allows for almost complete Alipay use, just as much as they would have been able to use it in China proper. It’s only expanding from there; Alipay has set up a deal with the Lahitaksi taxi service to bring Alipay to all 1,250 taxis under its control. Given that Finland’s fifth largest source of tourism is Chinese tourists, such moves just make sense.

The executive vice president of Finland’s national tourism board, Visit Finland, noted “Alipay was first made available in Finland in December 2016. I am glad to see it is widely accepted among Finnish merchants today, and it demonstrates Finland’s commitment to ensure that Chinese visitors leave our country with an unforgettable experience.”

Anything that can be done to make for a better customer experience—and this generally holds true over any industry as long as it doesn’t cost so much it renders an operation unprofitable—is usually worth doing. It improves the odds of return business and keeps a business in cash flow. Something like this, which reaches a large portion of a major target market, is just good business, and Alipay has been pursuing this particular track of good business for months now.

Alipay is making it easier than ever to do business anywhere, and that’s likely not going unnoticed in the tourist trade. That means a lot of new payments to process and percentages to derive accordingly, putting Alipay ever more ahead.