Retail giant Walmart and popular Chinese third party payment provider Alipay have signed a new deal that will see the Alipay mobile wallet solution accepted in 25 Walmart stores in Shenzhen, China and further deployment to the remaining 410 stores in China by the end of the year. The new partnership is part of Alipay’s greater push into the offline environment in an attempt to expand the company’s influence beyond e-commerce.
In a statement sent to NFC World, Ant Financial (part of the Alibaba Group and operator of Alipay) said,
“Walmart’s cash registers need no extra equipment to accept Alipay Wallet mobile payments; the standard barcode scanning guns will suffice for consumers to pay with Alipay. Ant Financial and Walmart are collaborating on various projects, including big data sharing and analysis, to provide not only secure and efficient payment methods for consumers but to upgrade its overall shopping experience at Walmart. Increasing the number of offline scenarios that accept Alipay payment is an important strategy for Ant Financial.”
With no extra equipment required for Walmart and Chinese consumers already comfortable using the Alipay mobile wallet for e-commerce and a growing number of other payment types, a deal between the retail giant and Alipay makes a lot of sense for both participants. Furthermore if successful, the solution could be rolled out internationally as Alipay and the Alibaba Group overall look to new markets to continue their robust growth.
Overview by Tristan Hugo-Webb, Associate Director, Global Payments Advisory Service at Mercator Advisory Service
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