Alipay users will now able to pay for their taxi rides and movie tickets using the Alipay’s mobile wallet application, highlighting the online e-payment company’s push into offline services.
Some 20,000 Beijing taxi drivers who have signed up with a popular taxi-hailing mobile application Kuaidi Dache will now be able to take payment from Alipay, the company said today in a press release. The tie-up between Kuaidi Dache and Alipay Wallet will allow users to swipe taxi drivers’ QR codes and then input fares using mobile phones so the bill can be deducted from Alipay accounts or paying by Alipay through the Kuaidi Dache app.
Earlier this year, Alibaba Group invested in Kuaidi Dache.
To promote this method of payment, Alipay, which is affiliated with e-commerce giant Alibaba Group, will offer users a RMB 5 ($0.82) rebate for every taxi ride they pay for using Alipay Wallet in December, up to two taxi rides a day.
The expansion of Alipay Wallet into online-to-offline (O2O) services comes as more Chinese are using their smartphones to shop online. According to iResearch data, mobile e-commerce grew 181 percent year on year in the second quarter to reach RMB 37.5 billion ($6.2 billion). During Alibaba Group’s 11.11 Shopping Festival nearly 21 percent of all transactions were completed with mobile devices.
As more Chinese put their savings into online investment services like Alipay’s Yu’E Bao money-market fund to reap higher interest rates, consumers are looking for more O2O integration so they can quickly convert their stored e-cash into tangible goods and services.
Alipay has about 50 percent of China’s e-payment market, according to iResearch. Alipay users can link their Alipay accounts to their bank accounts, or top up their Alipay accounts using cash. The monies in their Alipay accounts can then be used to pay bills, make online purchases and buy offline goods and services.
Alipay announced recently that it has signed agreements with two of China’s top cinema chains, Wanda Cinema and Jinyi Cinemas, to allow Alipay users to buy movie tickets directly from the Alipay Wallet app. Wanda Cinema will make the service available in 10 movie theaters in Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Guangzhou. Alipay Wallet users will be able to buy tickets in 107 Jinyi Cinemas outlets.
By buying tickets using mobile phones, users can skip lines when retrieving their tickets by using sound-wave technology at designated kiosks in cinemas to print out their tickets.
In November, Alipay Wallet teamed up with Intime Department Store, which has 37 stores in China, to accept Alipay Wallet payments at its department stores. Alipay Wallet can also be used in China to pay for vending machine drinks.
Alipay Wallet has about 100 million users. About one-third of Alipay’s daily payments are being completed via mobile devices, according to Fan Zhiming, the head of Alipay Wallet.
