- Money transfers provider teams up with Lacoste clothing
- QR code payments to be rolled out
Alipay recently announced a partnership with French clothing brand Lacoste that will let shoppers use Alipay to make purchases in certain US retail stores.
The international payments platform will be the exclusive partner of Lacoste, using Verifone technology to enable Alipay QR code payments at mobile point of sale terminals (mPOS) in retail outlets. According to Alipay, the Verifone partnership began in 2016 and gave merchants in Europe and North America the ability to accept Alipay in their stores. The arrangement also made it possible for retailers with Verifone mPOS to create marketing campaigns aimed at Chinese consumers using Alipay to make international money transfers.
With approximately three million Chinese tourists visiting the US each year, Alipay hopes the agreement with Lacoste will help the platform tap into this lucrative market. In 2016 alone, Chinese travelers in the US spent almost $33bn.
"We take pride in appealing to international customers and continue to use innovative technology to improve the customer experience in our boutiques," said Lacoste North and Central America President and CEO Joelle Grunberg in a statement.
According to Souheil Badran, President of Alipay Americas, Lacoste is now better equipped to reduce payment and language barriers for Chinese visitors in their stores.
"Chinese travelers love brands like Lacoste, and we are thrilled to partner with Verifone to simplify their checkout experience at select Lacoste stores nationwide," Badran said.
Chinese international funds transfer giant Alipay has been expanding its presence in the US for some time. The payments service provider now has more than 500 million users worldwide, with plans to expand its global reach to exceed two billion users over the next ten years.
Alipay users send hundreds of millions of dollars in domestic and international transfers every day.
