Alipay expands mobile payment service to Taiwan

TAIPEI - Mainland tourists in Taiwan will soon be able to buy from thousands of vendors using a mobile app from Alipay, the mainland's leading electronic payment platform.

Although currently only a few chain stores in Taiwan offer the service, the total number of vendors to adopt the mobile payment method will reach 3,000 by the end of the year, said Bruce Lee, chief officer of digital business development at Taiwan's E.SUN Bank, Alipay's partner.

E.SUN Bank expects the total number to reach 10,000 next year, Lee said on the sidelines of a financial seminar on Thursday.

Vendors that have signed up for Alipay's payment system include department stores, supermarkets, street vendor associations and chain stores, he said.

Mobile payment services will help small vendors in Taiwan who cannot afford cross-border credit card systems such as Visa, he said. It also saves mainland tourists the trouble of converting renminbi to New Taiwan dollars.

Currently, Alipay's system is only available to mainland travelers in Taiwan, but Lee said the bank is working to expand the service to Taiwan residents.

Alipay has more than 400 million users, including 270 million active users through mobile phones. The company is working on expanding its cross-border mobile payment service. A number of vendors in popular tourist destinations such as the Republic of Korea and Macao have adopted the service.