Dubai Duty Free, which claims to be one of the largest travel retail operators, announced its partnership with Alipay+ in order “to power a seamless travel and checkout experience for international visitors.”
Consumers from South Korea, Singapore, the Philippines, Thailand, Mongolia, Italy as well as Chinese mainland, Hong Kong and Macao are now “able to access promotions and pay with their home digital apps at duty-free stores at Dubai and Al Maktoum International airports.”
Dubai Duty Free is said to be among “the latest retailers and tourism facilities that leverage Alipay+ cross-border payment technology and marketing solutions to boost convenience and efficiency for international visitors.”
Through simple integration, Alipay+ e-wallet and bank partners “that are accepted across the UAE include Alipay, AlipayHK, MPay (Macao SAR, China), GCash from the Philippines, Kakao Pay, Naver Pay and Toss Pay from South Korea, OCBC from Singapore, TrueMoney from Thailand, Hipay from Mongolia and Tinaba from Italy.”
In Dubai, the vast majority of international tourists “are now able to pay for their taxi fares, and shop cashless at big malls in downtown and at airports with their home e-wallets and banking apps, in home currencies.”
Upon scanning the QR code at merchants’ end or “pulling out their individual QR code to be scanned, the purchase would be completed within seconds, with transaction details displayed at their home digital app in real time.”
The partnership also comes as Dubai Duty Free marks its 40th Anniversary in December by unveiling “a series of promotions and pre-Christmas deals for major categories including perfumes, cosmetics, liquor, watches, jewelry, confectionery, and leather goods.”
Guoming Cheng, general manager of Ant Group in Europe and Middle East
“From Dubai taxis to Dubai Duty Free and more tourism facilities, we are looking forward to upgrading the checkout experience across the region and support the growth of smart travel.”
As noted in the update, Alipay+ is “a suite of cross-border digital payment, marketing and digitalization solutions that help connect global merchants to consumers.”
Consumers can access seamless payment and a broad choice of deals “using their preferred payment methods while travelling abroad. Small and medium-sized businesses may use Alipay+ digital tools to enhance efficiency and achieve omni-channel growth.”