Alipay

Alipay (part of Ant Financial Services Group) was launched in 2004, is the world's largest mobile payment service and has more than 520 million active users (data from the summer of 2017).

Company and service logos for 2021

Alipay has evolved from a digital wallet lifestyle service. Users can call a taxi, book a hotel, buy movie tickets, pay for utilities, make an appointment with a doctor or purchase investment products right in the mobile application. In addition to online payments, Alipay is developing a reception network in physical retail both within and outside China. More than 8 million trade and service enterprises in China and other countries of the world accept Alipay payments. The system supports settlements in 19 currencies, including the Russian ruble. Payment is made using the Alipay mobile app. During payment, the QR code of the buyer's wallet or the QR code of the transaction is scanned. POS-terminal and cash solution are also available.

2021

The number of users - 1 billion 671.7 million

Data for 2021

Chinese authorities plan to divide Alipay super application into separate services

In September 2021, it became known that the Chinese authorities want to divide Alipay, a super application with 1 billion users owned by Jack Ma's Ant Group, and create a separate application for the company's highly profitable credit business, which will be the most noticeable restructuring of the fintech giant.

Chinese regulators have already ordered Ant to separate Huabei and Jiebei, which issues small unsecured loans, from the rest of the financial proposals and attract external shareholders.

Ant will also share user data on which credit decisions are based with a new credit scoring joint venture that will be partially owned by the state.

"The government believes that the monopoly power of big technologies is due to their control over data," say sources close to financial regulators. "It wants to end it."

2020: Blocking service in the United States

On December 5, 2020, the president USA Donald Trump blocked the most popular Chinese payment services Alipay and in the United States. WeChat Pay American the leader signed a corresponding decree, which became known as "Eliminating the threat posed by applications and others software developed or controlled by Chinese companies."

In addition to Alipay and WeChat Pay, CamScanner, QQ Wallet, SHAREit, Tencent QQ, VMate and WPS Office were banned. The decree will enter into force on February 19, 2021.

Trump blocked the most popular Chinese payment services Alipay and WeChat Pay in the United States

Trump explained the ban on applications by the fact that they can access users' personal data and transfer it to the Chinese government. The Chinese authorities, according to the US president, are thus tracking the whereabouts of American officials and collecting dossiers. 

Alipay and WeChat services are actively used in China, but much less popular in the United States, writes The Wall Street Journal. For example, Alipay in the American App Store and the Google Play in 2020 was downloaded only 207 thousand times, according to data from the analytical company Sensor Tower. The number of downloads of the WeChat application, which has a built-in WeChat Pay service, has reached 1.6 million.^[1]

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said on January 6, 2021 that China would take the necessary measures to protect the legitimate interests of Chinese companies after the United States imposed restrictions on 8 Chinese payment applications.

We call on the American side to respect the principles of market economy and fair competition, respect the rules of international trade, provide an open, fair and non-discriminatory environment for doing business for foreign companies, including Chinese ones. Of course, the Chinese side will take the necessary measures to protect the legitimate interests of Chinese companies, she said.

2018

VTB and INPAS jointly develop the capabilities of Alipay

VTB INPAS On December 13, 2018, the bank and the company announced that, with the support of the processing company "," MultiKarta they are expanding the ability to receive the Alipay system in. Russia As of December 13, the service operates in and To Moscow in the St. Petersburg Far East. The bank plans to contribute to the expansion of the geography of its presence.

The main function of Alipay is to provide an opportunity for tourists from the PRC to pay for their purchases through a special mobile application. Read more here.

Launch of a money transfer service on the blockchain

At the end of June 2018, fintech startup Ant Financial announced an international money transfer service based on blockchain technology. It is available to users of AlipayHK's digital wallet, a joint effort between Ant Financial and Hong Kong conglomerate CK Hutchison Holdings.

    Gcash and Globe Telecom participated in the creation of the blockchain solution, which is designed to reduce transaction fees and increase the speed of money transfers. The transactions will go through one of Hong Kong's largest banks, Standard Chartered. It is noted that it took 3 seconds to process the first payment using the system.

Ant Financial launched a money transfer service using block technology

Initially, the blockchain service is only available in Hong Kong and the Philippines. If the project is successfully tested, its geography is promised to be significantly expanded.

Blockchain technology can change our world more than people think. Traditional financial institutions serve 20% of people and still make 80% of profits. New financial institutions should serve 80% of people and make 20% of profits, said Jack Ma, founder of internet giant Alibaba Group, which owns a 33% stake in Ant Financial.

Speaking at the launch event, Ma stressed that there are still more than 1.7 billion people in the world without bank accounts. The growing popularity of smartphones opens up new opportunities for the development of financial services, and blockchain can help overcome security, sustainability and integration problems, he said.

Blockchain shouldn't be the kind of technology that enriches overnight, Jack Ma said. But "the impact of blockchain on people's future may go beyond our imagination," he said.

Ant Financial said that the launch of the blockchain money transfer service confirms the company's commitment to working with partners to provide advanced financial services addressed to the low-income population of Asia.

According to the World Bank, in 2017, remittances totaling $466 billion were registered in low and middle-income countries.^[2]

2017: VTB begins acquiring service

In July 2017, it became known that VTB Group begins acquiring services for the Alipay payment service in its POS-terminal network, which today has 120 thousand devices and becomes the largest partner of Ant Financial Services Group in Russia. The new project is designed for tourists from the PRC. It is planned that more than 1 million people will use it annually. The technological maintenance of the project, along with VTB Bank, is carried out by the VTB24 and the Multicarta company. The service is scheduled to launch in the 3rd quarter of 2017.

Chinese tourists - customers of the service will be able to use the Alipay service. Payment is possible from any mobile devices on which the Alipay application is installed. For the buyer and user of Alipay, expanding the service to the territory of Russia means the ability to comfortably and safely use the usual payment method and enjoy all the marketing advantages of the system. For stores and restaurants - an increase in the number of Chinese customers and trade turnover through an increase in conversion and an increase in the average check through a marketing platform for retailers.

According to the VTB24, the Alipay service will be most popular in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Khabarovsk, Vladivostok, Blagoveshchensk and Irkutsk.

The technical operation of the service is provided by a unique transaction platform developed by VTB Bank. All transactions of the participating banks of the project in Russian rubles and Chinese yuan pass through it.

VTB previously entered into a cooperation agreement with Ant Financial in the field of banking services and Internet payments in Russia in order to improve the quality and reliability of customer service.