Alipay to offer cross-border Grab payment

Ant Financial’s Alipay and ride-hailing company Grab have partnered to allow Chinese travelers to take advantage of cross-border payment when using Grab’s services in Singapore and Thailand.

Starting today, Alipay users in Singapore and Thailand can pay for their taxi and private-hire car rides booked through the Grab mobile app with their Alipay accounts.

Previously, Chinese travellers had to pay for their rides either by cash or their dual currency credit card. The Alipay option allows Chinese travelers to pay for their fares in Renminbi, without having to worry about exchange rate fluctuations.

The deployment will soon be extended to other Southeast Asian markets that Grab currently operates in, such as Malaysia and Indonesia.

“By collaborating with partners like Grab, we provide Chinese travelers the kind of convenience they are used to in China – no matter where they are in the world,” Ant Financial VP of international business Sabrina Peng said.

Alipay last month partnered with Uber, Grab’s rival in Southeast Asia, in a similar deal which allows the latter’s passengers worldwide to pay for rides in Renminbi.

Alipay has been working with local merchants in 69 overseas markets. As of May 2016, Alipay is accepted in more than 70,000 retail stores outside of China, and tax reimbursement via Alipay is supported in 24 countries and regions, including South Korea, Germany and France.