Alipay to boost acceptance points in Singapore

Chinese online and mobile payment platform Alipay has signed a deal with CC Financial Services to allow it to expand its 20,000 acceptance points in Singapore.

CC Financial Services, a Singapore-based startup which runs a mobile payments platform named CCPay, will function as a merchant acquiring partner for Alipay.

The partnership aims to allow Chinese tourists to Singapore to pay for purchases using their Alipay e-wallets. Customers who use to service need to use their mobile phones to scan the QR codes provided by the retailer.

Alipay’s country manager for Singapore, Sri Lanka and Maldives Melvin Ooi told The Straits Times that the Alipay platform will “soon” be made available for customers of banks in Singapore, although a timeline was not provided. Currently, Alipay users need to either have a banking account from China or a credit card issued by a bank in China.

Recently, Alipay tied up with taxi operator Comfort Delgro in a partnership which enabled Alipay users to pay for cab rides using the platform. 17,000 of the current 20,000 Alipay acceptance points in Singapore are for taxis.

CC Financial Services, which was founded in March this year, has acquired more than 600 merchants, with the plan to grow this number to 6,000.