Ant Group and Mastercard, alongside 12 overseas payment partners of Alipay+ and other major card organizations, announced the launch of the International Consumer Friendly Zones program in Shanghai.
This initiative aims to enhance the travel experience for global visitors and stimulate economic growth for local businesses.
The program encompasses a comprehensive network including over 20 key shopping areas, famous tourist attractions, both of Shanghai’s international airports, major high-speed railway stations, and a sizable taxi fleet consisting of 25,000 vehicles.
Prominent landmarks such as the Bund, the bustling Nanjing Road shopping district, and the iconic Oriental Pearl TV Tower are also participating in this collaborative effort.
The initiative marks a pivotal development in digital payment options available to international tourists in China. Ant Group has introduced two primary digital payment solutions.
The first allows travelers to link major international bank cards such as Visa, Mastercard, JCB, Discover, and Diners Club International to an Alipay app, enabling them to utilize a wide range of local Alipay services from shopping and dining to ride-hailing and public transportation, all without needing a local bank account or phone number.
The second solution, Alipay+, part of Ant International’s suite of cross-border mobile payment and digitalization technology solutions, enables overseas consumers to pay with their home e-wallets across China.
Currently, Alipay+ supports 12 leading e-wallets and payment apps in Asia, facilitating transactions at an extensive network of 80 million merchants throughout China, including AlipayHK in Hong Kong SAR, Kaspi.kz in Kazakhstan, and several others across the region.
Following successful initial rollouts in Beijing and Guangzhou earlier this April, Ant Group has actively worked to enhance the accessibility and user-friendliness of these digital payment options for international travelers.
Enhancements include the provision of bilingual support and comprehensive user manuals. In Shanghai, measures have been taken to increase the visibility of payment signage at participating merchant locations to ensure that customers are well-informed about the available digital payment methods.
The impact of these enhancements is already visible. From January to April this year, spending by international visitors in Shanghai through these digital payment methods surged, experiencing a thirteenfold increase compared to the same period last year.
Fu Lu, Director of Cross-border Business in Greater China at Ant Group, emphasized the strategic importance of the initiative, stating:
“The introduction of the International Consumer Friendly Zones in Shanghai signifies a major advancement in our efforts to enrich the inbound tourism experience and bolster local business, especially considering the city’s critical role in China’s global interactions.”
