Alipay to help European merchants better reach world consumers

LONDON - Alipay, the world's leading payment platform, said on Thursday that it will help 10 million European merchants reach over 2 billion potential consumers from around the world in five years with innovative technology.

Alipay made the announcement during the Alipay Partners Global Summit in London, saying it will enhance collaboration with European acquirer Worldline to enable small and medium enterprises in Europe to better serve and sell to over 2 billion potential consumers travelling to the region from around the world.

Thanks to the expanded partnership with Worldline, an existing acquirer for Alipay that will work with Alipay's e-wallet partners from Asia for the first time, European merchants will be allowed to accept payments from them through their Alipay-enabled points of sale.

"Our aim is to improve the way in which individuals and businesses buy, sell and receive payments, and to do this, we need to draw upon the strength of our partnerships," said Eric Jing, chairman and CEO of Ant Financial, operator of Alipay.

"Our innovative solutions will continue to help merchants in Europe better serve the growing numbers of tourists as well as e-commerce shoppers coming to the region from all over the world."

Alipay is China's most popular digital payment service, according to market researcher Statista, with 87 percent of survey respondents in the country aged between 18 and 69 reporting that they use Alipay for their digital financial needs.