The payments division of Alibaba, Alipay, will be expanding into Japan in advance of the Olympic games there in 2020 to further expand its standing in the country and help Chinese visitors make payments. The Alipay business is operated by Ant Financial and offers on and offline payments.
Alipay is dedicated to enhancing user experience and creating value for small and micro businesses through technology. The Tokyo Olympics and the hike in visitors that this will bring is a good target for us, to ensure that the Alipay platform is the bridge between inbound visitors and local merchants here in Japan. It is also important that we are collaborating with partners not only in the metropolitan areas and big cities, but also in smaller cities with popular tourist attractions. We look forward to working with a wide range of Japanese partners to achieve this ambition, and in doing so contribute in some way to driving the local economy of areas across Japan.
– Eric Jing, Chairman and CEO Ant Financial
The Alipay service expansion in Japan which reflects the needs of the growing number of Chinese tourists. Specific collaborations to date with regional banks, such as Hida Credit Union and Kyoto Shinkin Bank, have allowed Alipay to make its payment services available in tourist spots and shops outside of major cities. To further expand its merchant network, Alipay is also seeking to work with more small and micro merchants by cooperating with local mobile payment platforms in Japan such as Line Pay and Paypay.
It’s currently has over 700 million active users in China and landed in Japan to provide services to Chinese visitors at local merchants in December 2015. It’s operational in all 47 prefectures across the country and widely available in outlets to support tourism including airports, department stores, restaurants and popular attractions. This new expansion will increase its reach.
