Alipay to expand presence in Canada
Partners with Canada’s SnapPay, allowing retailers here to accept Chinese currency
TORONTO — Chinese online payment platform Alipay has partnered with tech firm SnapPay Inc. to enable Canadian retailers to accept Chinese currency from Chinese shoppers through a mobile wallet.
Alipay North America president Souheil Badran says the company wants to offer Canadian merchants the opportunity to access the Chinese market.
He says 700 Canadian merchants already accept Alipay.
But the partnership gives the payment platform an opportunity to aggressively explore opportunities for expansion in the education, winery, restaurant and retail sectors.
The company touts the increasingly lucrative role Chinese consumers could play for Canadian businesses, given the country’s growing middle class.
Alipay, originally created by Chinese online shopping giant Alibaba.com, was launched in 2004 and has more than 520 million active users. It is now owned by Ant Financial Services Group, a “related company” to Alibaba.
“We want to continue offering Chinese consumers visiting Canada the ability to pay as they would in China. But we also want to offer Canadian merchants the opportunity to access the Chinese market,” Badran said.
The launch comes as Alibaba was ready to host heavy hitters including the Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Premier Kathleen Wynne and Toronto Mayor John Tory at its Gateway ’17 Canada conference in Toronto on Monday.