Alipay, the mobile payments solution operated by Ant Financial Services Group, today provides some 450 million active users in China with an entire range of financial services. Now, in order to stay in step with its app-holders visiting Europe, Alipay will cooperate among others with BNP Paribas, the European leader in Cash Management, so as to enable the 16 million Chinese tourists who travel outside Asia every year to pay for their purchases with their Alipay mobile app at all partnering stores. Initially available in France, this service will be progressively extended to the rest of Europe.
By partnering with Alipay, BNP Paribas is clearly demonstrating the Group’s determination both to provide every assistance to retailers looking to expand their sales and to be the bank for all innovative players.
“We’re excited to have BNP Paribas as one of our partners so as to enable Alipay users to pay with the app in even more locations and scenarios across Europe,” said Douglas Feagin, Senior Vice President of Ant Financial and President of Alipay International, underlining: “Our users’ lifestyles are increasingly global, so it’s vital that we’re able to work with the leading payment providers across the world to bring our trusted and convenient services to Alipay users wherever and whenever they need them.”
Pierre Fersztand, Global Head of Cash Management at BNP Paribas declared: “We’re delighted with this partnership with Alipay. It will enable us to continue providing our clients with innovative solutions so as to help them grow their sales.”
BNP Paribas is a leading bank in Europe with an international reach. It has a presence in 74 countries, with more than 189,000 employees, including more than 146,000 in Europe. The Group has key positions in its three main activities: Domestic Markets and International Financial Services (whose retail-banking networks and financial services are covered by Retail Banking & Services) and Corporate & Institutional Banking, which serves two client franchises: corporate clients and institutional investors. The Group helps all its clients (individuals, community associations, entrepreneurs, SMEs, corporates and institutional clients) to realise their projects through solutions spanning financing, investment, savings and protection insurance. In Europe, the Group has four domestic markets (Belgium, France, Italy and Luxembourg) and BNP Paribas Personal Finance is the leader in consumer lending. BNP Paribas is rolling out its integrated retail-banking model in Mediterranean countries, in Turkey, in Eastern Europe and a large network in the western part of the United States. In its Corporate & Institutional Banking and International Financial Services activities, BNP Paribas also enjoys top positions in Europe, a strong presence in the Americas as well as a solid and fast-growing business in Asia-Pacific.
Alipay is operated by Ant Financial Services Group. Launched in 2004, Alipay currently has over 450million active users. Alipay has evolved from a digital wallet to a lifestyle enabler. Users can hail a taxi, book a hotel, buy movie tickets, pay utility bills, make appointments with doctors, or purchase wealth management products directly from within the app. In addition to online payments, Alipay is expanding to in-store offline payments both inside and outside of China. Over 2 million bricks-and-mortar merchants now accept Alipay across China. As of June2016, in addition to the Chinese mainland, Alipay was supported in 70 countries and regions, with in-store payments covering more than 80,000 retail stores, and tax reimbursement via Alipay is supported in 24 countries. Alipay works with over 200 overseas financial institutions and payment solution providers to enable cross-border payments for Chinese people travelling overseas and overseas customers who purchase products from Chinese e-commerce sites. Alipay currently supports 18 currencies.