NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Alipay, the world’s leading digital payment platform operated by Ant Financial Services Group, and First Data (NYSE: FDC), a global leader in commerce-enabling technology, today announced an expanded partnership that adds 35,000 merchants to the growing roster of businesses accepting Alipay in store. The expansion allows U.S. merchants the ability to offer Alipay’s 600 million registered Chinese users the same, convenient payment experience they enjoy at home while traveling in the United States.
“First Data continues to be a premier partner for Alipay,” said Souheil Badran, President, Alipay Americas. “In a few short months, First Data has significantly expanded the number of merchant locations accepting Alipay through seamless integration. Now, Chinese travelers are enjoying the familiarity of their Alipay Mobile Wallet at many of their favorite locations across the United States. We look forward to continuing to partner with First Data as we aim to enable Alipay at millions of additional merchant locations in 2018.”
“Following the success of Alipay at Millennium Hotels and Resorts in Asia, we are pleased to partner with the digital payment platform again to launch the service in New York, Boston and Los Angeles in an effort to make the travel experience as seamless as possible for guests,” said Howard Wu, President – North America and Chief Technology Officer of Millennium Hotels and Resorts. “As a hospitality brand, we are always looking for ways to enhance the overall guest experience, and expect Alipay to be well received by Chinese travelers visiting key markets in the United States.”
The expanded partnership follows a May 2017 announcement unveiling First Data’s plans to integrate Alipay at the point-of-sale across four million U.S. merchant locations. The ongoing rollout includes merchants using First Data’s Clover suite of solutions. Clover, a leading point of sale platform, serves the needs of merchants ranging from food trucks and small retailers to regional coffee houses and even the largest sports stadiums. Alipay enablement is one of many Clover features that helps merchants across North America grow their businesses.
“We are thrilled with the significant interest we’ve seen from merchants who want to offer Alipay at the point-of-sale,” said Nandan Sheth, General Manager, Global Debit Solutions, First Data. “As our partnership continues to mature, we are excited to roll out Alipay on an even larger scale. Businesses that offer Alipay are able to benefit from the growing number of Chinese travelers coming to the U.S. by offering a frictionless payment experience that transcends country, currency and language barriers.”
Alipay aims to simplify every aspect of Chinese tourists’ travel in North America, enabling them to use Alipay for everything from ride-hailing and purchasing luxury goods, to making reservations at hotels and restaurants. Through Alipay’s geolocation-based “Discover” function and push notifications within the Alipay app, Chinese travelers can locate merchants nearby, receive promotional information, and make purchasing decisions. Through the same function, Alipay also enables local merchants to better target and connect with Chinese consumers. Beyond an improved payment experience, Alipay offers a sophisticated marketing channel. Through Alipay, First Data’s merchants will be able to market to Chinese tourists before, during and after their visits, boosting exposure of their businesses among China’s rapidly expanding overseas visitors.
About First Data
First Data (NYSE: FDC) is a global leader in commerce-enabling technology, serving approximately six million business locations and 4,000 financial institutions in more than 100 countries around the world. The company’s 22,000 owner-associates are dedicated to helping companies, from start-ups to the world’s largest corporations, conduct commerce every day by securing and processing more than 3,000 transactions per second and $2.4 trillion per year.
About Alipay
Operated by Ant Financial Services Group, Alipay is the world’s leading mobile and online payment platform. Launched in 2004, Alipay currently has over 600 million active Chinese users and over 200 financial institution partners in China. 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 40 million brick-and-mortar merchants now accept Alipay across China. Alipay’s in-store payment service covers 40 countries and regions across the world, and tax reimbursement via Alipay is supported in 24 countries and regions. Alipay works with over 250 overseas financial institutions and payment solution providers to enable cross-border payments for Chinese travelling overseas and overseas customers who purchase products from Chinese e-commerce sites. Alipay currently supports 27 currencies. Follow us on Twitter @antfinancial and @alipay.
About Millennium Hotels and Resorts
Millennium Hotels and Resorts is the brand umbrella of Millennium & Copthorne Hotels plc, a global hospitality management and real estate group, listed on the London Stock Exchange (LSE: MLC). The company owns and/or manages a worldwide portfolio of more than 130 hotels, offering over 37,000 rooms in business and leisure destinations in Asia, Australasia, Europe, the Middle East and North America. Millennium Hotels and Resorts consists of nine brands: Grand Millennium, Millennium, Grand Copthorne, Copthorne, Kingsgate, M Hotel, M Social, Studio M and MyMillennium, which are operated throughout Asia Pacific, Europe, Middle East, and North America.
Founded on the philosophy of genuine hospitality, this dynamic hospitality group has an outstanding reputation for excellence, taking pride in exceeding the needs of its business and leisure travelers. The strategic localities of its properties in key gateway cities such as New York, Los Angeles, London, Paris, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Singapore, Auckland and Beijing makes Millennium Hotels and Resorts the perfect address to conduct your business or indulge yourself while on holiday.
