CommBank and Alipay collaborate on payments solutions
The two financial companies will deliver innovative solutions to benefit Chinese and Australian retailers and consumers.
Two financial heavyweights from China and Australia have come together to deliver better payment solutions to consumers and retailers. Australia's Commonwealth Bank and China's mobile and online payment platform Alipay, operated by Ant Financial Services Group, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to work together on the project.
The terms of the MOU will see Alipay and CommBank work together to make it easier for Australian consumers to pay for purchases made through Alibaba Group's e-commerce websites. This includes AliExpress, where Chinese merchants sell to global consumers.
Both companies will work on a simple payment solution to allow Chinese tourists and students to use Alipay in-store payments at Australian retailers.
Kelly Bayer Rosmarin, group executive of institutional banking and markets at CommBank, said the Big Four is excited to work with the world's largest mobile and payment platform.
"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. 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."
China is the world's largest market for mobile payments, overtaking the US last year. The Chinese market has a mobile transaction volume of US$235 billion, with the country expected to process $6.3 trillion in mobile payments by 2020. This compares to the two-fifths of Australians that don't make payments on their smartphones, according to finder.com.au research.
Douglas Feagin, senior vice president of Ant Financial Services Group and head of Alipay International, said the collaboration will help the approximate 19,000 Chinese tourists that visit Australia every year.
"Australia is a popular destination for Chinese travellers and Chinese students studying overseas. We want Alipay users to enjoy the kind of convenience they are used to at home. We are working with regional and global partners like CBA to make this happen," he said.
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Image: Commbank
