CBA, Alipay link for Australia–China e-commerce

Commonwealth Bank has reached an agreement with China’s Alipay to make it easier for Australian consumers to pay for purchases made through Alibaba Group’s network of e-commerce websites.

The agreement with Alipay, the world’s largest mobile and online payment platform operated by Ant Financial Services, will also allow Chinese tourists to use Alipay for in-store payments at Australian retailers.

Commonwealth Bank said the partnership will allow both companies to take advantage of each other’s e-commerce capability, as well as Commonwealth Bank’s Albert smart payment tablet.

China is the world’s largest mobile payment market with transaction volumes of US$235 billion ($308.8 billion) in 2015, and this is expected to grow to US$6.3 trillion by 2020. Australia is also a popular destination for Chinese tourists, with around 19,0000 visiting per week.

“We are thrilled to be the first Australian bank to collaborate with Alipay in building an innovative payments solution that leverages our leading e-commerce and point-of-sale platforms,” Commonwealth Bank Group Executive for Institutional Banking and Markets Kelly Bayer Rosmarin said.

“We are constantly working on payment solutions that offer flexibility and choice for our customers so the prospect of bringing them closer to a globally leading mobile payments provider, and its 450 million active users, is truly exciting.”

Image courtesy of Phil Desveaux under CC