Ant Group, in collaboration with 11 overseas payment partners of Alipay+ and major international card organisations, launched a programme in Beijing to establish International Consumer Friendly Zones across significant tourist and commercial cities in China.

This initiative, supported by relevant authorities and local governments, aims to improve the experience of international visitors and support local businesses.

Ant Group offers two mobile payment options for overseas visitors in China: payments through Alipay+ for users of foreign e-wallets and for travellers to link major international bank cards to the Alipay app. This enables access to a wide range of local services without requiring a local bank account or phone number.

The International Consumer Friendly Zones programme by Ant Group and partners will focus on enhancing the accessibility and convenience of these payment methods at popular tourist locations, including transportation hubs, attractions, hotels, and shopping districts. Efforts will include expanding bilingual support, providing user guides, and improving merchant training.

As part of this programme, Alipay+ and NayaPay, a fintech platform in Pakistan, announced a partnership allowing NayaPay users to make payments across Alipay+’s network in China. This move aims to facilitate payments between China and Pakistan amid increasing bilateral trade and visits.

NayaPay becomes the 11th overseas and 1st Pakistani payments platform to “roam” in China, following AlipayHK (Hong Kong SAR, China), Changi Pay (Singapore), HiPay (Mongolia), Kakao Pay (South Korea), MPay (Macao SAR, China), Naver Pay (South Korea), OCBC Digital (Singapore), Toss Pay (South Korea), Touch ‘n’ Go eWallet (Malaysia), and TrueMoney (Thailand).

Ant Group and its partners are also conducting educational and marketing campaigns to familiarise merchants and consumers with the new payment options.

“Seamless payment and consumer experience is critical for international travel and broader cultural and economic exchange. Building on the International Consumer-Friendly Zones programme and more travel innovations, we will work with partners home and abroad to expand cross-border technology and service cooperation to support our new payment facilitation and opening initiatives,” said Jake Xue, General Manager, Global Business Services, Ant Group.

Featured image credit: Edited from Freepik