Alipay+, a suite of cross-border payment and marketing solutions, has supported global online merchant partners recently to serve more than 100 million e-wallet users as they flocked to take up the offers and benefits during the global 11.11 Mega Deals event that kicked off last November 1.
From November 1 to 10, the number of online payment transactions via Alipay+ recorded a significant growth of 40 per cent compared to the previous year, while total e-wallet user payments through Alipay+ also experienced an increase of 30 per cent. This is a testament to Alipay+’s increasing popularity and its capability to seamlessly execute cross-border payments and marketing.
The consumers that participated in the event are mostly users of popular e-wallets from Southeast Asia, which included GCash (the Philippines), TrueMoney (Thailand), Touch ’n Go eWallet (Malaysia), DANA (Indonesia), and Kakao Pay (South Korea). With Alipay+, the event participants were able to conveniently make cross-border payments during the festival to more than 1,000 global online merchants using their local currency wallets in their respective platforms.
This year, e-wallet users could access coupons to exchange for free gifts and attractive deals offered by merchants listed on the Alipay+ Rewards section from their own payment apps. Consumers can also use direct payments at online checkout through e-wallets powered by Alipay+ solution, which ensures payments can be completed smoothly across the border, especially during the peak time of the festival.
Digital and entertainment sectors had the highest level of participation
In terms of transaction volume increase, the digital & entertainment sector saw the highest level of user participation this year, achieving over 200 per cent growth in transactions volume this year, followed by the O2O and e-commerce sectors.
This year, the number of first-time merchant joiners accounts for about one-third of the total global online merchants. During the first ten days of the festival, the top-five first-time merchants on average recorded a five-time increase in the number of e-wallet users making payments and a three-time jump in total transaction volumes through Alipay+ compared to the previous month.
“We are excited to see the enthusiasm of consumers during November 11 mega sales this year as online shopping and digital payment have continued to evolve as the key channels for growth over the years,” said Daniel Marogy, Managing Director of Food Panda Philippines.
Introduced by Ant Group in 2020, Alipay+ is a suite of cross-border digital payment, marketing and merchant digitization solutions connecting global brands with mobile-savvy consumers worldwide, with an aim to enable businesses, especially small and medium-sized enterprises, to process a wide range of mobile payment methods and reach more than 1 billion regional and global consumers.
“Alipay+ is dedicated to bringing more exclusive offers and benefits from merchants around the world to hundreds of millions of mobile-savvy consumers of our e-wallet partners,” said Jing Yin, General Manager of Acquiring Service and Global Strategic Accounts of Ant Group.
“Ant Group’s technology capabilities and know-how also ensure our merchants and wallet partners are able to process transactions smoothly during peak traffic time, such as the ongoing Alipay+ Double 11 Mega Deals and other promotional events,” he added.
The pandemic has notably accelerated digital adoption. The recent Global Findex data from the World Bank indicated that 8 per cent of adults living in developing countries made their first digital payment after Covid-19 started. The research excluded China as the country already has a high digital adoption rate and widespread use of mobile payment apps.
Home to the world’s fastest-growing e-wallet user base, Southeast Asia is experiencing increasing digitization as 70 per cent of the ASEAN population is now online, according to recent HBSC research. Additionally, the COVID-19 pandemic led to consumers’ rapid adoption of e-commerce and the demand for online transfer and contactless payments will not fade even as the world gradually recovers from the pandemic.
Over the past six months, Alipay+ has been making steady progress in markets including Southeast Asia, South Korea and Japan, connecting local and regional merchants with various digital payment methods. Last month, Alipay+ introduced three more Asia e-wallets to Singapore and now there are altogether six overseas e-wallets that can accept Alipay+. Alipay+ previously announced its new merchant partnerships in South Korea and Japan.
During the Singapore Fintech Festival concluded last week, Ant Group also announced that Alipay+’s global merchant coverage has more than doubled to over 2.5 million over the past six months.