Wirecard Continues Alipay Push with Merchant Deals
Wirecard has announced two partnerships this week to expand Alipay acceptance in Europe, one with Schustermann & Borenstein and another with Swarovski Crystal Worlds.
The deal with the textile retailer and exporter expands on a five-year relationship in which S&B has been using Wirecard’s acquiring services for its online platform Best Secret. The payment technology company, based in Munich, now is introducing Alipay as a payment method in the firm’s fashion stores in Munich and Vienna as part of an additional contract.
Chinese tourists will be able to pay using Alipay in S&B branches in Munich and Dornach, as well as at the flagship S&B store in Vienna/Vösendorf. Wirecard will handle POS integration via the Scan Alipay app.
In a separate deal, Wirecard is integrating the Chinese payment method into Swarovski Crystal Worlds’ POS systems. Wirecard will provide acceptance and assume responsibility for fully settling transactions, and the technology can be expanded to other stores, including those abroad, Wirecard says.
More than 8 million Chinese tourists travel to Europe each year, spending an average of over €3,000 per trip on shopping, according to the announcement. Retailers offering Alipay via Wirecard report the average transaction volume for individual purchases is approximately €750.
Wirecard’s Alipay Barcode Payment enables Alipay users to make payments with their Alipay apps. Retailers scan a barcode on the smartphone, which immediately launches the payment process. Behind the scenes, Wirecard initiates the payment. The customer confirms the purchase by entering the appropriate password and subsequently receives the payment receipt. The Alipay app also enables merchants to notify their Chinese customers of special offers via push notifications shortly before they arrive in Europe.
Alipay is the No. 1 mobile payment solution in China, with more than 520 million users and more than 100 million transactions per day.
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