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Alibaba's payment platform Alipay coming to SA

Sibahle Malinga
By Sibahle Malinga, ITWeb senior news journalist.
Johannesburg, 28 Jun 2017
Rahul Jain, co-founder of Peach Payments.
Rahul Jain, co-founder of Peach Payments.

Alibaba's international mobile payment app Alipay will soon be introduced to the South African market, to enable local businesses to accept payments from touring Chinese customers.

Operated by Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba affiliate, Ant Financial Services Group, Alipay is among the world's largest online and mobile payment platforms, with more than 450 million active Chinese users globally.

The mobile payment wallet has partnered with local fintech company Peach Payments and electronic payment and banking solutions firm ACI Worldwide to enable local merchants to offer mobile payment services via Alipay, according to Peach Payments.

More than 10 000 Chinese tourists arrive in SA each month and the Chinese are among the highest per capita spenders when travelling abroad. This is an opportunity for local businesses to attract and capture this segment and their spend, says Peach Payments.

"Alipay has been providing its users across China with easier, safer and greener lifestyles. Bringing Alipay to Africa gives African merchants another way to engage with and serve Chinese visitors," comments Rita Liu, head of Alipay EMEA.

"We are happy to work with local partners to provide better travel experiences to Chinese tourists, and to create more value for local commerce."

The collaboration builds upon ACI's long-standing work with Alipay and Peach Payments, whose merchants already benefit from other mobile payments delivered through ACI's mobile commerce software, Development Kit.

Rahul Jain, co-founder of Peach Payments, says: "At Peach Payments, we're continuously thinking about how we can help our merchants sell more efficiently. Our partnership with Alipay and ACI Worldwide is yet another step we have driven over the past few years to help the online commerce market grow in SA."

Currently, Alipay as a wallet service is only available to Chinese people and South African citizens cannot sign up for the service, explains Jain. "In SA, this service will be mainly aimed at enabling businesses to use Alipay as a payment method, and Peach Payments will facilitate the transactions for these merchants."

Tourist bus operator City Sightseeing will be the first local merchant in SA to offer Alipay as part of its mobile and e-commerce strategy, to capture the growing Chinese visitor market in SA, according to Peach Payments.

"We are proud to build upon our successful relationship with Peach Payments, enabling them to be the first payment service provider in SA to give their merchants the ability to accept Alipay," says Markus Rinderer, senior vice-president, ACI Worldwide.

"Although Alipay has been supported through our e-commerce payments solution for two years now, launching in Africa brings us to a new and exciting phase in our relationship, as we move closer to our vision of enabling universal connectivity across the payments ecosystem."

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