KFC China accepts Alipay

More than 700 KFC China stores have started to accept customer payments via Alipay’s smartphone-based payment technology.

The stores, in Shanghai and Zhejiang Province are the first of some 5000 outlets across Mainland China which will adopt the payment option in coming months.

The the partnership with Alibaba, KFC China customers can pay for their meals in local KFC restaurants by using the Alipay Wallet app on their smartphones. The cashless payment solution is expected to enhance operational efficiency of the fast food chain.

The tie-up with KFC is the first major move of the newly established Koubei, a 50-50 joint venture between Alibaba Group and its affiliate Ant Financial that focuses on increasing the availability of local services through O2O (online-to-offline) eCommerce.

Koubei plans to integrate Alibaba’s existing food ordering and delivery service Taodiandian and Ant Financial’s merchant services.

KFC China, which launched in 1987, has been upgrading its restaurants for mobile commerce. Wi-Fi is now available in 2200 KFC China outlets and the company has launched a mobile application for food ordering in Shanghai and Hangzhou.

According to iResearch, Alipay, a subsidiary of Ant Financial, accounted for 82 per cent of China’s third-party mobile payment sector in 2014. In May, 25 Walmart supermarkets and hypermarkets in Shenzhen began accepting Alipay’s mobile payments.