Barclaycard has entered into an agreement with Alipay that enables UK merchants to accept the payment method in stores.
UK retailers can adopt the solution without replacing their existing point-of–sale systems.
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Alipay serves over one billion users worldwide together with local e-wallet partners. The agreement offers Chinese users travelling in the UK the mobile payment and lifestyle experience they prefer. In addition, they can utilise Alipay’s competitive foreign exchange rate.
Alipay and Barclaycard opportunity
Following a successful two-year pilot, this move allows UK retailers to harness the growing volume and purchasing power of Chinese visitors. In the UK, there are currently 393,000 Chinese residents and 95,000 Chinese students.
In addition, VisitBritian is expecting 483,000 visits from Chinese tourists in 2019, up 43% from 2017.
Chinese visitors are expected to spend more than £1bn ($1.3bn) this year, up 50%, moving it well into the UK’s top 10 tourism markets. The increase in market size is also demonstrated by the fact that the number of Alipay users in the UK has doubled in the last year.
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By GlobalData60% of merchants that adopted Alipay saw increases in both foot traffic and revenue, according to Nielsen.
Rob Cameron, CEO, Global Head of Payment Acceptance at Barclaycard, said: “Thanks to the significant investments we’ve made in our platform, our clients have access to a growing range of payment types, each of which can help them increase market share by meeting the needs of new customers.
“Our new agreement with Alipay gives retailers a vital tool to help them seize the revenue opportunity posed by the growth of Chinese visitors to the UK. At the same time, Alipay users will benefit from a more convenient and familiar in-store payments process – enhancing their overall shopping experience.”
Roland Palmer, Head of Europe, Middle East and Africa at Alipay, said: “Alipay is excited to announce that it will be working with Barclaycard to provide visitors from China with the mobile payment experience that they are already familiar with. Through this strategic partnership, Alipay will now be able to offer many more UK merchants the opportunity to connect and engage with a growing number of Chinese visitors. This is another step forwards in our vision to offer Chinese tourists a seamless travel and payment experience when travelling overseas.”
