Ant Group Registers Six-Fold Spike in Travelers Using Chinese Mobile Payment System
China’s Ant Group has registered a 300% surge in the number of international travelers using its mobile payment system. The group revealed in a recent announcement that transaction volumes on its mobile payment services involving international travelers increased by six times, indicating the increasing popularity of Ant Group’s mobile payment services among inbound travelers.
The past six months have seen the number of international visitors using Ant Group’s cross-border payment services quadruple, especially now that the International Consumer Friendly Zones program, which was launched in March, has reached an estimated 70 cities in China so far. As China’s tourism rates steadily recover from the lows caused by the coronavirus pandemic and China’s months of strict no-COVID policy, mobile money use by inbound travelers has increased significantly.
According to Ant Group president and CFO Cyril Han, a combination of private-industry initiatives, such as the International Consumer Friendly Zones program, combined with government policies has contributed to a “robust recovery” in China’s tourism sector. Han explained that travelers now have more freedom and ease to explore China, thanks to increased payment accessibility and transport capacity as well as less stringent visa requirements.
The surge in international travelers coming into China has created a lot of business opportunities for Chinese merchants and tripled the number of local merchants using Ant Group’s mobile money platform to serve overseas customers. Additionally, the group has teamed up with the People’s Bank of China since 2019 to collaborate with foreign digital wallets and international card networks in a massive initiative dubbed the China Payment Facilitation Partnership.
Furthermore, Ant Group debuted two mobile payment services designed for international travelers during last year’s Hangzhou Asian Games and has expanded its base of supported international payment partners since then. Ant International’s Alipay+ allows international travelers to use their home e-wallets when they visit China because it supports 13 top payment apps and e-wallets in the country.
Travelers can use these 13 e-wallets on a massive network of 80 million merchants, which is up from 10 mobile payment partners last year. These partners include MPay, AlipayHK, Touch ‘n Go eWallet, NayaPay, Hipay, Toss Pay, GCash, OCBC Digital, TrueMoney and Kakao Pay. International visitors also have the option of linking the Alipay app to top global bank cards such as JCB, MasterCard, Visa, UnionPay International, Diners Club International and Discover to gain access to a wide variety of local services without having to obtain a mainland Chinese phone number or bank account.
The increasing penetration of mobile payment in China sends positive signals to various entities with a major interest in this segment, such as FingerMotion Inc. (NASDAQ: FNGR). There is plenty of growth potential that these companies can tap into if they continue bringing innovative solutions to this fast-growing market.
NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to FingerMotion Inc. (NASDAQ: FNGR) are available in the company’s newsroom at https://ibn.fm/FNGR
Please see full terms of use and disclaimers on the ChineseWire website applicable to all content provided by CW, wherever published or re-published: https://www.ChineseWire.com/Disclaimer
China’s Ant Group has registered a 300% surge in the number of international travelers using its mobile payment system. The group revealed in a recent announcement that transaction volumes on its mobile payment services involving international travelers increased by six times, indicating the increasing popularity of Ant Group’s mobile payment services among inbound travelers.
The past six months have seen the number of international visitors using Ant Group’s cross-border payment services quadruple, especially now that the International Consumer Friendly Zones program, which was launched in March, has reached an estimated 70 cities in China so far. As China’s tourism rates steadily recover from the lows caused by the coronavirus pandemic and China’s months of strict no-COVID policy, mobile money use by inbound travelers has increased significantly.
According to Ant Group president and CFO Cyril Han, a combination of private-industry initiatives, such as the International Consumer Friendly Zones program, combined with government policies has contributed to a “robust recovery” in China’s tourism sector. Han explained that travelers now have more freedom and ease to explore China, thanks to increased payment accessibility and transport capacity as well as less stringent visa requirements.
The surge in international travelers coming into China has created a lot of business opportunities for Chinese merchants and tripled the number of local merchants using Ant Group’s mobile money platform to serve overseas customers. Additionally, the group has teamed up with the People’s Bank of China since 2019 to collaborate with foreign digital wallets and international card networks in a massive initiative dubbed the China Payment Facilitation Partnership.
Furthermore, Ant Group debuted two mobile payment services designed for international travelers during last year’s Hangzhou Asian Games and has expanded its base of supported international payment partners since then. Ant International’s Alipay+ allows international travelers to use their home e-wallets when they visit China because it supports 13 top payment apps and e-wallets in the country.
Travelers can use these 13 e-wallets on a massive network of 80 million merchants, which is up from 10 mobile payment partners last year. These partners include MPay, AlipayHK, Touch ‘n Go eWallet, NayaPay, Hipay, Toss Pay, GCash, OCBC Digital, TrueMoney and Kakao Pay. International visitors also have the option of linking the Alipay app to top global bank cards such as JCB, MasterCard, Visa, UnionPay International, Diners Club International and Discover to gain access to a wide variety of local services without having to obtain a mainland Chinese phone number or bank account.
The increasing penetration of mobile payment in China sends positive signals to various entities with a major interest in this segment, such as FingerMotion Inc. (NASDAQ: FNGR). There is plenty of growth potential that these companies can tap into if they continue bringing innovative solutions to this fast-growing market.
NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to FingerMotion Inc. (NASDAQ: FNGR) are available in the company’s newsroom at https://ibn.fm/FNGR
Please see full terms of use and disclaimers on the ChineseWire website applicable to all content provided by CW, wherever published or re-published: https://www.ChineseWire.com/Disclaimer
