Ant eyes Europe and US for its Alipay+travel payment service

Ant eyes Europe and US for its Alipay+travel payment service is profiled by BTW Media because published evidence links it to internet infrastructure, governance, operational dependencies, or market visibility.

• The company’s goal is to add more partner wallets supported by Alipay+ and achieve double-digit percentage growth in partner merchants.
• The company’s strategy is to “fill out the coverage” in all Asian countries and then expand to Europe and the United States.

Chinese financial company Ant Group is looking to expand the global reach of its cross-border mobile payments service, Alipay+.

Alipay+ in Japan

Unit president Douglas Feagin said in Tokyo on Tuesday that Ant International aims to considerably boost the number of partner wallets supported by Alipay+ this year, possibly by more than 10, according to the South China Morning Post.

Fragin also hopes to achieve a double-digit percentage jump in international merchants served by Alipay+ this year.

The company’s strategy is to become popular in all Asian countries and then expand to Europe and the United States.

In Japan, Alipay+ has been expanded to support 16 Asian mobile wallets, allowing travelers from Hong Kong, Macau, Thailand, the Philippines, and Malaysia to make purchases in Japan using the payment apps at home, Feigin said.

As mentioned by Fragin, Alipay+ currently accounts for 10% of total spending by Japanese tourists.

Also read: Alipay launches blockchain vouchers at milk tea shops in Asia

Also read: China: World’s first truly cashless society?

International market

Last week, the finance giant said Ant Group was going to aggressively move into international markets, especially Europe and the United States.

According to the plan, announced in an internal letter to employees, Anthem International will become a separate division with its own board of directors, paving the way for an eventual full spin-off.

Meanwhile, the restructuring will also see OceanBase and Ant Digital Technologies operating independently, with the aim of transforming the Ant Group to focus on artificial intelligence, globalization and Alipay.