In May 2017, youths from 20 countries along the "Belt and Road" voted for China's "New Four Great Inventions": high-speed rail, QR code payment, shared bicycles, and online shopping. Although some of these "inventions" were not originally created in China, they have rapidly spread across the country, profoundly impacting global technology, economy, and society.

Especially QR code payment, after its rapid rise, the payment process has been significantly simplified. A report published by The New York Times in July 2017 titled "Cash Is Fast Becoming Obsolete in Chinese Cities" mentioned that "almost everyone in China's major cities uses smartphones to pay for everything, and China has entered the ranks of the 'cashless era.'" Three years ago, however, Chinese people mainly relied on cash for transactions.

At that time, domestic consumers lamented that while they enjoyed convenient experiences covering food, clothing, shelter, and transportation domestically, they still needed to "exchange currencies" and "research travel guides" when traveling abroad, and their accustomed QR code payment method was not universally accepted.

Nowadays, domestic consumers can satisfy most of their needs with just a smartphone for cross-border travel. Foreign friends visiting China can also quickly integrate into China's payment ecosystem through Alipay's overseas version, avoiding a series of difficulties from translation to payment.

This change stems from the upgrade in consumption habits brought about by the globalization of mobile payments. According to Alipay data, Alipay's outbound travel services have covered more than 70 countries and regions worldwide, with 5 million merchants using Alipay to conduct business, covering all aspects of food, clothing, shelter, transportation, travel, and shopping. Even taking taxis, riding the subway, and renting electric scooters overseas can be done using Alipay.

Whether it's Chinese travelers going abroad or foreign guests coming to China, Alipay is connecting digital payment methods in various countries and regions through the "Alipay+ Solution" to meet users' diverse needs, bringing multiple enjoyments in technology and service to tourists worldwide.

Convenience and discounts worldwide

Convenience and discounts are two "trump cards" that Alipay uses to attract users globally.

Travelers with outbound travel experience may notice that more and more merchants worldwide support Alipay transactions, whether in Southeast Asia, a "bridgehead" for domestic enterprises going abroad, or in new tourist hotspots in the Middle East, as well as in distant European and American countries. QR code payment has become commonplace, and having a smartphone in hand almost eliminates the need to worry about cash.

The "2023 Survey on China's Outbound Travel Trends and Digitalization" released by Nanyang Technological University in Singapore showed that safety, friendliness, and convenient visas are the top factors determining Chinese people's outbound travel decisions. Among them, the convenience of mobile payments has become a significant tool for winning the favor of Chinese tourists. 94% of tourists are more willing to spend at destinations where mobile payments are available, and 95% feel more friendly towards merchants that accept mobile payments.

Tourists who are already accustomed to the convenience of mobile payments domestically naturally want to continue this good experience while traveling abroad. A survey showed that 84% of Chinese tourists prefer to use mobile payments for outbound travel, mainly attracted by more transparent exchange rates (60%), numerous discounts (60%), the ability to keep electronic records (56%), and not having to worry about cash theft (55%). Especially in popular tourist scenarios such as shopping, tax refunds, restaurants, and ticket purchases, the rate of using mobile payments exceeds 60%.

To meet the needs of tourists, Alipay offers rich shopping discounts overseas. In 2023, a peak year for outbound travel, Alipay launched comprehensive services covering food, clothing, shelter, and transportation: For transportation services, Alipay launched "Overseas Car Rental" and partnered with ZUZUCHE to provide car rental services in nearly 200 countries and regions worldwide; for tax refund services, Alipay users in Europe, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, and other places can first obtain coupons and then receive real-time tax refunds, earning up to 288 yuan in overseas payment red envelopes. Additionally, over 20 brands with 50 stores in France, Italy, Spain, and other places offer an additional 20% tax refund subsidy.

With the upcoming European Cup and Olympic Games, European travel is about to reach a peak. The 400,000 European merchants that support Alipay have made adequate preparations, covering all aspects of European travel, including large department stores, convenience stores, airports, duty-free shops, restaurants, and tourist attractions.

For example, in Germany, whether it's major daily necessities chains like ROSSMANN or DM, the largest drugstore chain, or premium shopping centers like OUTLETCITY METZINGEN or the century-old Kaufhof department store, using Alipay can enjoy discounts of up to 100 yuan.

In addition to discounts, various value-added services based on mobile payments are also blooming everywhere. For instance, using Alipay in Singapore offers exclusive benefits worth up to 5,588 yuan for Chinese tourists, including comprehensive online taxi booking and food ordering services. These include skipping the line when ordering Burger King online and up to 50 yuan off with one-click taxi booking.

For foreign friends, Alipay has partnered with Bank of China, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, China UnionPay, and overseas wallets to launch two mobile payment solutions for inbound travelers: foreign card binding within Alipay and outsourcing for internal use.

The upgraded Alipay overseas version has a more concise interface and higher usage efficiency. According to Alipay data, as of March 2024, foreign tourists who use Alipay App to bind international bank cards ("foreign card binding") come from nearly 200 countries and regions. Among them, South Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, the United States, Japan, Thailand, Germany, Australia, the United Kingdom, and Indonesia are the top ten source countries.

(Alipay's airport real-time tax refund machine)

After the Hangzhou Asian Games, Alipay's business volume has increased significantly. In March this year, the cumulative transaction amount of overseas guests through Alipay in China increased nearly 10 times year-on-year, the number of transactions increased nearly 8 times year-on-year, and the number of active users increased nearly 6 times year-on-year.

The recovery of the cross-border travel market is expected to accelerate in 2024. According to the China Tourism Academy's forecast, the number of inbound and outbound tourist trips is expected to exceed 264 million for the whole year. Especially with the support of the German European Cup and the Paris Olympics, the European Tourism Commission predicts that the number of Chinese tourists visiting Europe in 2024 will increase by over 20% compared to last year. Alipay has launched a lottery for European Cup tickets and airfare promotions, and also introduced a "Global Travel Card" on the "Huichujing" homepage within the app. This allows outbound travelers to recoup their investment with just a 2.8 yuan purchase before travel, obtaining a global travel discount card package worth 288 yuan, including more than 20 benefits such as travel, consumption, data, tickets, flights, and hotels.

Driven by a good development momentum, Alipay continues to enhance its services for foreign personnel. In March, in addition to the original Chinese and English languages, Alipay added translation services for French, German, Spanish, Malay, Arabic, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, Turkish, Indonesian, Korean, Japanese, Thai, and Vietnamese.

This means that Alipay aims to be more than just a payment tool. It wants to provide users with comprehensive services that "start with payment but don't stop at payment" through its own accumulation, becoming an essential assistant in users' travel and daily lives.

On Alipay, whether it's domestic outbound travelers or foreign personnel coming to China, they can enjoy the digital ecosystem jointly provided by Alipay and other partners, including online translation, taxi booking, hotel reservation, scenic spot ticket booking, public transportation, mobile power bank rental, exchange rate inquiry, etc. This aims to make it as seamless as possible for users to have one app to rule them all.

Integrating into Consumers' Lives

Why has Alipay become the choice for one-stop services for domestic and foreign users?

Powerful functionality and user-based payment needs.

For example, through Alipay+'s cross-border digital payment and marketing solution under Ant Group, it supports 10 overseas wallet users to make direct QR code payments after entering the country, including AlipayHK (Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China), Touch 'n Go eWallet (Malaysia), Kakao Pay (South Korea), MPay (Macao Special Administrative Region, China), HiPay (Mongolia), Changi Pay (Singapore), OCBC Bank (Singapore), Naver Pay (South Korea), Toss Pay (South Korea), and TrueMoney (Thailand).

This is a major integration of payment tools based on user needs by Alipay+'s cross-border digital payment and marketing solution. For users, overseas users can increase payment trust by using familiar wallet tools; for other digital payment methods, they can also make a significant impact in the Chinese market through cooperation with Alipay.

Ecosystem is Alipay's biggest advantage.

Internet platforms attach great importance to ecosystem construction. Alipay has grown from an intermediary platform for buyers and sellers on Taobao to a "national platform" with over 1 billion users, relying on its continuous integration into consumers' lives.

Recently, Alipay launched the "AI Medical Assistant" solution. According to Alipay, the "AI Medical Assistant" solution provides users with intelligent interaction throughout the entire process from pre-diagnosis, during diagnosis, to post-diagnosis. Before the visit, users can match the corresponding department by describing their symptoms; upon arriving at the hospital, this "assistant" will plan the patient's medical treatment, provide services such as guiding, report checking, and medical insurance payment; after the visit, in addition to electronic medical records, prescriptions, and report inquiries, it will also establish a universal health record for the patient inside and outside the hospital, allowing patients to manage their long-term health through functions such as internet hospitals.

This is a microcosm of Alipay's growth journey and can be seen as a tool for its rise.

From paying utility bills to querying medical insurance and provident funds to comprehensive services covering food, clothing, shelter, transportation, entertainment, and more, Alipay has become an almost essential super app on the phones of over 1 billion users by staying close to users' lives.

On October 31 last year, Alipay released its 15th anniversary report on people's livelihood services. The data showed that more than half of Chinese households complete payment transactions through their mobile phones. Among them, over 20 million users have tied their elders' accounts to their utility bill payment accounts; since the launch of online registration services, the average number of queues avoided per person has been reduced by 180 times; over 8,000 public services have been moved online, and one-stop online services for all 31 provinces in China have been launched on Alipay; 1,300 cities (including county-level cities) can use Alipay for public transportation, making coin changes a thing of the past...

These experiences in building an open platform for digital life can still be powerful weapons for Alipay to acquire users in the wave of globalization and can also serve as a banner for providing convenient lifestyle services.

In addition, in terms of user experience, Alipay also provides users with a more heartwarming experience.

An experience of a friend remains vivid in my mind: This friend suddenly had a business trip on a certain evening, so he quickly took the high-speed train to another city. It was late when he exited the station, and he took a taxi to the hotel. Just as he took out his phone to pay the taxi fare, Alipay called and asked, "Your account has a transaction in a different location. Are you aware of this?" This moment filled the user's heart with a sense of security like a "wallet assistant."

This may be a trivial matter in Alipay's service to users, but such experiences will continue to unfold as Alipay goes global, becoming one of the important reasons for users to choose Alipay.