Zapper teams up with Alipay to help Chinese tourists pay via mobile

More than 250,000 Chinese tourists will be able to pay using their mobiles in the UK now a deal has been struck between mobile payment apps Alipay and Zapper. Mobile payment platform Alipay will now be able to pay at more than 1,000 Zapper-affiliated businesses in the UK plus more in Europe and North America. … Continue reading Zapper teams up with Alipay to help Chinese tourists pay via mobile

More than 250,000 Chinese tourists will be able to pay using their mobiles in the UK now a deal has been struck between mobile payment apps Alipay and Zapper.

Mobile payment platform Alipay will now be able to pay at more than 1,000 Zapper-affiliated businesses in the UK plus more in Europe and North America.

Zapper, which uses QR code technology and is compatible with Android, iOS and Windows Phone, is Alipay’s first European partner.

Alipay has 450 million active users and is the leading mobile payment app in China, where 85% of mobile payments are made by scanning a QR code.

Rita Liu, head of Alipay in Europe, said: “With Zapper as a partner, Alipay can further enhance our user experience as they can conveniently shop outside of China and pay with Alipay. Meanwhile merchants, in addition to the Alipay payment solution, can better connect and understand hundreds of thousands Chinese tourists travelling in the UK.”

Zapper, in comparison, has nearly one million customers in 12,000 businesses across ten countries and is hoping to build on that through targeting the 11.7 million Chinese tourists who visit Europe each year. It has a large focus on restaurants with Camino, Iberica, and Burger and Lobster among its affiliated businesses.

Gerry Hooper, chief executive of Zapper UK and Ireland, said: “This is a huge development enabling Chinese tourists to seamlessly continue using the highly popular Alipay app when travelling to the UK and our partnered Zapper venues to appeal more favourably to travelling Alipay users and stand out from the competition.”