Alipay announces launch of cross-border payments in Hong Kong

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Valentina Vitali
Valentina Vitali
Research Analyst
Valentina is a Research Analyst and passionate about payments and fintech. Valentin enjoys analysing money transfer companies and the market. In her work, Valentina analyses payments data… Read more
  • Alipay (Macao), the e-wallet subsidiary of Ant Bank's Macao arm, will allow users to make purchases at more than 25,000 offline merchants across Hong Kong.
  • Customers will be able to use the e-wallet with excellent exchange rates and no additional handling fees.
  • “We hope that Alipay (Macao) will continue to expand to more regions and countries, allowing Macao users to use their own e-wallet app to travel freely and enjoy more convenience,” said a senior figure at Alipay.

Financial giant Ant Bank has announced that it will launch a new money transfer service for offline merchants in Hong Kong.

The move concerns Ant Bank's Macao arm, and will involve Alipay (Macao), its e-wallet subsidiary.

The move will enable e-wallet users to pay for goods and services at over 25,000 offline sellers in the area.

The merchant in question will display the appropriate Alipay (Macao) and Alipay+ logos to signal that the service can be used.

They will also be able to access an exchange rate that does not incur additional handling fees.

Firms based in Hong Kong will be able to receive Hong Kong dollars that have automatically been exchanged from Macao patacas.

This exchange will occur in real time.

In order to enable the service, customers will need to pair up either a debit card or a credit card to their Alipay accounts.

They may also need to verify their identity to get started.

The new development will mean that the three major providers of e-wallets in the region are now bolstered even further.

Alipay (Macao) is just one of several services offered by the company, including Alipay HK and Alipay itself.

In a statement, the general manager of Alipay for Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan said that the move was a “significant development” as it is the first e-wallet provider to gain widespread acceptance in the region.

Venetia Lee said that it would improve convenience for those travelling in the area.

“For Alipay (Macao), becoming the first Macao e-wallet to be widely accepted by merchants in Hong Kong is a significant development as this provides greater convenience to users travelling in the Greater Bay Area, while bringing more benefits to Hong Kong businesses,” she said. 

She went on to say that there was a plan for the company to build on this success by beginning to operate in other markets.

“We hope that Alipay (Macao) will continue to expand to more regions and countries, allowing Macao users to use their own e-wallet app to travel freely and enjoy more convenience.”

To get more details about the workings of the international money transfer sector, just head over to our reviews pages to help you make a decision about which provider to go for.


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