Alipay, along with Ant Group’s overseas spin-off Ant International, and Weixin Pay said in separate statements on Wednesday that they were expanding support for foreign e-wallets through China’s Cross-border Interconnection Payment Gateway scheme.
Ant is affiliated with Alibaba Group Holding, owner of the South China Morning Post.
Launched by the People’s Bank of China and the Payment and Clearing Association of China this year, the new system aimed to improve payment convenience for foreign visitors, Lu Lei, deputy governor at the central bank, said at an industry forum on Tuesday, according to state media.
The system began its trial run at the end of July and had already processed nearly 2 million transactions, reaching 427 million yuan (US$60 million) as of last week, Lu said.
Alipay now supported seven international bank cards and 31 mobile wallets from 12 countries and regions, including recent additions from Indonesia, Uzbekistan and Thailand, according to the company.
