Using Alipay, customers scan a QR code to pay.
Up to 25,000 Australian and New Zealand merchants will soon have access to the lucrative Chinese tourist market, with payments provider Smartpay inking a deal with China’s Alipay.
The agreement will allow retailers to tap into the $10 billion Chinese tourist market by offering the popular mobile payments platform in store, along with traditional EFTPOS and credit card payments.
Smartpay will launch Alipay through a pilot program in New Zealand, with Australia to follow, and will earn a share of total transaction value through the agreement.
To use the service retailers generate a transaction specific QR code via the terminal which customers scan with their mobile device.
Local retailers will be able to grow sales by using Alipay to market to millions of Chinese consumers using tools like location-based marketing and loyalty rewards. This includes not only tourists, but Chinese students and migrants as well, said Alipay ANZ country manager George Lawson.
“These are very lucrative markets that are rapidly expanding,” he said. “Beyond an improved point-of-sale experience, Alipay offers a sophisticated marketing channel.
“Through Alipay, Smartpay clients will be able to market to Chinese tourists before, during and after their visits to Australia and New Zealand, boosting exposure of their businesses amongst China’s rapidly expanding middle class.”
Smartpay is not the first company to offer Alipay in Australia. Fashion retailer Cue recently announced its intention to offer both Alipay and WeChat Pay in its stores across the country and taxi giant Cabcharge has also jumped on the mobile payments bandwagon, announcing in February it will accept Alipay through payment terminals in more than 20,000 taxis around the country.
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