Alipay has landed in the U.S. following its do-everything social payments competitor WeChat, who moved in last week, signaling the start of a payments arms race here.
Alipay, China’s dominant mobile payments company under Ant Financial, signed a deal Monday with First Data, the U.S. card processing giant, that will allow Chinese tourists in the U.S. to make purchases at its 4 million merchant locations using Alipay.
The expansion stateside follows that of Tencent Holdings’ WeChat, which announced its plans in February and arrived in the U.S. on Thursday.
“These consumers love to shop in the U.S. because they find items here they would otherwise not be able to find in China, and pricing that is much more affordable,” said Souheil Badran, president of Alipay North America. “Our focus will continue to be on enabling the Chinese consumer to use Alipay at U.S. merchants.”
Mobile payments still lag behind China, but growth is expected to top the Asian country in the next year, according to estimates.
Read the full story on tearsheet.co
More in Marketing
Digiday+ Research: Deloitte, Wrangler and other execs dig into holiday marketing strategies
As the holiday shopping season kicks off, Digiday+ Research sat down with brand and retail marketers to see how they’ve prepared for the season.
Brands prepare for more shoppers to buy from their phones this holiday season
A record 53% of holiday shopping is expected on mobile this year, and brands are readying their sites and socials to meet the demand.
Marketing Briefing: Understanding CMOs’ top priorities ahead of the next Trump presidency
CMOs and agency execs say brands need to listen to voter feedback to understand if they know what resonates with consumers.