Alipay+ has partnered with LankaPay, which will aim to enhance inbound and outbound travel experience in Sri Lanka. This will be made possible through cross-border digital payments, enabling users of Alipay+ payment partners to make payments at over 400,000 LankaQR merchants across Sri Lanka. The partnership will also enable Sri Lankans to use their LankaQR-enabled apps to scan and pay at Alipay+ merchants globally when traveling overseas.

By early 2024, users of Asian e-wallets from the region including Hong Kong SAR, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea and Thailand, will be able to use cashless payments when they travel to Sri Lanka with Alipay+. More e-wallets are expected to join in the near future.

LankaQR is a project initiated by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka to ensure all QR codes and QR based transactions in Sri Lanka are standardised and interoperable. Introduced in 2020, LankaQR network is managed and operated by LankaPay, the operator of Sri Lanka’s National Payment Network.

Channa de Silva, Chief Executive Officer of LankaPay stated “We are delighted to announce this important partnership with Alipay+, which is a significant milestone in our endeavour to facilitate seamless cross-border transactions in support of our vision to become a global player in digital payments.

“We believe this partnership will provide greater convenience to Asian tourists visiting the country and a more acceptable proposition especially to the SME merchants with substantially low commission rate compared to card payments. Therefore, we envisage that our efforts will invariably motivate more SME merchants to come onboard digital platforms, which is essential in developing the country’s digital eco-system to propel the tourism industry and the national economy.”

Tourism in Sri Lanka on the rise

Additionally, all e-wallets supported by LankaPay will be accepted by Alipay+ global merchant network by the end of 2024, enabling Sri Lankans travelling overseas to pay with their familiar home e-wallet. Alipay+ is currently accepted by millions of merchants in over 50 countries.

This development aligns with Sri Lanka’s recent boom in tourism, therefore consumers need to adapt in order to match customers’ spending habits. Alipay+ and LankaPay will also be partnering on joint marketing efforts to promote the country as a tourist destination and tourism-related local businesses overseas. The Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority is optimistic of exceeding its target of 1.5 million visitors for the year.