Get to Know Alipay: The Essential Digital Wallet and Sales Channel for Merchants
Looking to attract more Chinese tourists to your store and business? We recommend Alipay, a widely used digital wallet app from China that will help simplify transactions for Chinese customers and your business.
With tourism halted due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the situation is now returning to normal. Since the end of 2023, Thailand has once again become a popular destination for tourists around the world.
According to statistics from the Ministry of Tourism and Sports, Chinese tourists ranked first. Over a million visitors were recorded in the first two months of this year. This represents significant opportunities for businesses to leverage on.
To cater to the spending needs of Chinese and other international tourists, businesses must be ready to accept payments via the Alipay digital wallet. If you are unfamiliar with this payment method, let’s learn more about it together.
What is Alipay?
Alipay, or Zhifubao in Chinese, is a digital wallet (e-Wallet) or online payment system. Hailing from China, Alipay was developed by Ant Financial Services Group (a subsidiary of Alibaba) in 2004 to facilitate financial transactions. These include online shopping, bill payments, money transfers and in-store payments via QR code. Currently, Alipay has over 1 billion users worldwide. 
In order to accommodate foreign spending (especially tourists), Alipay+ was developed. It is designed to accept payments from digital wallet apps in various countries, such as Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, Indonesia, South Korea and Japan.
o Alipay is a basic digital wallet (E-Wallet) for Chinese citizens with financial accounts in China. It is used for common financial transactions such as paying for goods and services, transferring money, and paying bills. Chinese tourists can pay via the Alipay app at any store that supports the Alipay payment system.
o Alipay+ is a product designed to support financial transactions for businesses of all sizes, enabling them to accept payments from tourists worldwide. By connecting electronic wallets (e-Wallets) from various countries, it enables users to easily pay with their own preferred apps even when they are in another country at places bearing the Alipay+ symbol.
In summary, Alipay is a digital wallet application for users with financial accounts in China, while Alipay+ is a payment system that links various digital wallets (e-Wallets) worldwide. Tourists from different countries can make payments easily at kiosks bearing the Alipay or Alipay+ symbol without needing to exchange currency.
Benefits for Merchants Who Accept Alipay and Alipay+
1. Attract more customers: With over a billion users worldwide, having acceptance for Alipay and Alipay+ payment systems can attract more tourists to your store.
2. Support more tourists: Alipay+ supports payments from e-wallets of various countries The include Thailand’s top tourist markets such as China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, Indonesia and South Korea.
3. Convenient, simple, borderless payment: With an easy-to-use payment channel that accepts a potential customer’s preferred e-wallet, it incentivises customers to spend at your store without the hassle of currency conversions.
Moreover, stores that accept Alipay payments may also get promotional opportunities within the application. This can further increase your business’ visibility and growth.