Alibaba affiliate Alipay teams with Yelp for mobile payment services in the US
Alipay, the Alibaba affiliated mobile payment service, has inked a partnership deal with Yelp to push its services to Chinese tourists in the US.
Ant Financial's Alipay has teamed with Yelp to launch services in the US.
The deal will enable Alipay’s 520 million Chinese users to access content, book restaurants and pay through the app in RMB while visiting New York City, Los Angeles, Las Vegas and San Francisco.
Currently the content will be Yelp’s English language version, however, a translated version of the app is planned to launch at a later stage.
Alipay, which is owned by Ant Financial, aims to roll out the service to additional cities and countries this year, as part of the company’s strategy to expand its services globally.
Ant Financial has launched AliPay in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Phillipines through a merger with Lazada’s HelloPay. It has also invested in South Korea’s Kakao Pay, Thailand’s Ascend Money and India’s Mynt and purchased US-based money transfer firm MoneyGram as part of its global expansion plans.
Souheil Badran, President, Alipay, North America, said in a statement, “Our partnership with Yelp expedites our goal towards a digital lifestyle and represents a substantial opportunity for U.S. businesses to connect with the growing audience of Chinese travellers that would otherwise be difficult to reach.”
“Alipay is already the trusted lifestyle app for Chinese consumers at home, and our growing suite of location-based content and services will continue to elevate their experiences when they travel abroad,” said Badran.
Chinese visitors to North America are expected to pass four million people this year.