Tyro, Australia’s business-only bank announced it had entered an agreement with the world’s largest mobile and online payment platform, Alipay, to become the first Australian bank to offer a seamless, all-in-one EFTPOS solution with Alipay for Tyro’s merchants and improve Australian businesses’ access to the Chinese visitor market.

Tyro is currently working with several merchants to determine appropriate pilot sites for launch by the end of 2018. Tyro will offer Alipay to its other eligible 20,000+ businesses from second quarter 2019.

The Alipay integration continues Tyro’s strategy of enabling its merchants to accept all payment types, letting their customers choose the way they want to pay.

Operated by Alibaba Group’s affiliate Ant Financial, Alipay is the world’s leading mobile and online payment platform and is a must-have app in China. With over 870 million active users in China and overseas with its strategic partners, Alipay has evolved from a digital wallet to a lifestyle enabler and is the number one payment method in China.

In Australia and New Zealand, Alipay now partners with over 10,000 businesses, helping them capitalise on the lucrative and rapidly expanding Chinese visitor market. Tyro will be the first Australian bank offering all-in-one EFTPOS with integrated Alipay acceptance with its merchants.

Robbie Cooke, CEO of Tyro, said,

“This is an exciting initiative for businesses in Australia, especially for those in the retail and hospitality sectors. It sees Tyro continue to challenge the status quo, being the first Australian bank to give its merchants the opportunity to seamlessly integrate with Alipay, enabling them to better serve Chinese tourists and giving customers more choice in how they want to pay.”

George Lawson, ANZ Country Manager at Alipay, said,

“Banks are pivotal to Alipay’s expansion in Australia as it allows us to switch on our technology for thousands of merchants simultaneously through their existing payment terminals.

Australian businesses have been calling out for their banks to partner with Alipay to improve their exposure to the rapidly expanding Chinese visitor market so it’s pleasing to see Tyro take the lead on this and give their merchants access to new customers and incremental revenues.”

In the year ending February 2018, almost 1.4 million Chinese tourists visited Australia, injecting AU$10.4 billion into the economy (in the year ending December 2017). This is predicted to rise to AU$13 billion by 2020. Alipay is also hassle-free and easy to set up for any operator and provides merchants with additional marketing capabilities.

Data from Nielsen has indicated that 65% of Chinese tourists use mobile payment platforms during their overseas travels, six times more than non-Chinese tourists (11%). In addition, over 90% of Chinese tourists would consider using Alipay when traveling abroad if Alipay were more widely accepted among foreign merchants. Moreover, over 90% of Chinese tourists indicated they would increase their spending if Alipay were an accepted payment method.

Tyro is further diversifying its offering and responding to merchant needs by introducing initiatives that attract more revenue to benefit their business. The Alipay integration is part of a wider scope from Tyro to offer alternative payments, as part of its existing EFTPOS and banking-specific products.

Featured image via tyro