In China, cash is no longer king. Why? Because of the Alipay phenomenon. It’s China’s biggest mobile payment platform, with 622m users, handling more than half of the country’s $15.5tn payments market. Find out more about Alipay Europe below.

Due to cooperation with European banks and retailers, Chinese travelers can now simply whip out their mobile devices and start shopping for their favorite brands without any cash or credit cards.

Europe is the most popular travel destination for Chinese tourists. In 2018, approximately 10 million tourists were visiting from China, and the number is on the rise. And they spent €40 billion per year!

Shopping is placed at the very top of their to-do list when travelling to Europe. Every tourist from China spends an average of 3,000 dollars on the trip here and makes 67 percent of his luxury purchases abroad. Chinese tourists even spend more on shopping than on accommodation and transportation—that’s a real difference compared to other countries like Germany.

More than 520 million Chinese consumers use Alipay

The company was active in six European countries last year, but wants to be present in a total of 20 European countries at the end of this year, Li Wang, Head of EMEA at Alipay’s parent company Ant Financial, told Dutch newspaper Financieel Dagblad.

“You can’t be successful if you’re playing defense. The payments market is changing rapidly in Europe”, she explains. “We’ve noticed that consumers want something different, and that is what drives innovation.”

Munich Airport, as one of the first large retailers in Europe, implemented this platform to get quick acceptance for Alipay payments in the central till system. But besides payment, paying with Alipay Wallet will also bring attractive deals for Chinese tourists: For example, retailers provide Alipay stands with QR codes for Chinese tourists to scan and participate in the sales generation campaign.

Alipay will soon be a popular payment method in Europe

The collected coupon is saved in the Alipay user’s pocket. The coupon can be directly redeemed or saved for later use. Notifications will be sent to users based on the coupon they collected, which is particularly user-friendly.

With the further increase in travel frequency to overseas destinations and the desire of Chinese people to experience an authentic experience, e.g. eat local deli, visit a local market, and above all, shop for local specialties, Alipay will soon be a popular payment method in Europe by enabling a global market.

Alipay Europe Operation

Alipay operates in Europe through its subsidiary, Alipay (Europe) Limited S.A., headquartered in Luxembourg. The company is registered as an electronic money institution and is supervised by the Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier in Luxembourg.

Services for European Merchants

European merchants can integrate Alipay to accept payments from Chinese consumers, enhancing their appeal to this significant customer base. Alipay has collaborated with several European financial institutions to enable app payments in physical and online stores. For instance, in Italy, Alipay partnered with UniCredit, SIA, and Banca Sella Group to facilitate such payments.