Earlier in October (11th), Alipay+ reached the notable milestone of partnering with 1 million merchants in Japan, helping to bring more seamless payments experiences to overseas travellers from China and Southeast Asian countries. This was a crucial moment for Alipay+ and Japan, given that the country is just reopening to mass tourism.

The ease of connectivity and a wider range of payment methods that Alipay+ offers to its merchants is expected to greatly boost businesses catering to overseas travellers, with Universal Studios Japan being the most recent partner to join. On top of this, some other highlights of reaching this milestone are:
·       Accomplishing a landmark presence of Alipay+’s digital payments solutions in Japan, a region with one of the e-wallet usage rates in the world
·       Introducing Alipay+’s QR code cross-border payment solution to Universal Studios Japan, one of the top attractions for international visitors
·       Easing the travel experience for tourists by ensuring that familiar payment options are available at a vast suit of sites within Japan

Commenting on the collaboration, Ant Group’s General Manager of Japan, Jiang Weixiao, said: "Through Alipay+, we hope that more visitors to Japan will not only enjoy a smoother and more fruitful shopping and leisure experience in, but that it will also lead to more overall visits. As Japan reopens to individual tourists, we would like to encourage small and medium-sized enterprises in tourism, retail, hospitality and other businesses in Japan to integrate Alipay+ as an opportunity to capture their purchase power and ensure a frictionless experience of more than 1 billion people in the Asian region."

 
Ant Group Reduces Data Centre Carbon Emissions by 947 Tons through Green Computing Technologies
Ant Group, Alipay+’s parent company, has always been heavily invested in reducing it carbon footprint, and this year managed to reduce its data centres’ electricity consumption by 1,538 megawatt-hours, all during China’s Global Shopping Festival on the 11th of November. Greener computing technologies were deployed within Ant Group’s data centre to reduce emissions by 2.4 times last year’s record of 394 tons over the 11-day period.

The green technologies were able to:
·       Reduce emissions by the equivalent of 72,000 gas and diesel vehicles
·       Allow data centres to provide more efficient computing resources
·       Included online-offline hybrid deployment, cloud-native time-share scheduling, and AI-based scaling

Data centres still consume a large amount of electricity across all industries. However, Ant Group is continuing to use innovation to reduce data centre consumption, forming a key part of its plan to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2030.
 
Alipay+’s Merchant Coverage Doubles as Brands Embrace Seamless Worldwide Shopping
At the Singapore Fintech Festival, Alipay+ revealed that it has more than doubled its merchant coverage over the last 6 months to 2.5 million. This news was unveiled just as the Chinese mainland became the latest region where merchants are being connected to a plethora of digital payment methods through Alipay+ in advance of the Hangzhou Asian games.

Some highlights of this announcement include:
·       Alipay+’s payment method offering amounts to 15 separate available preferences for merchants to choose from
·       Alipay+’s merchant network now covers a broad variety of industries, such as digital entertainment, lifestyle services, e-commerce platforms and brick-and-mortar businesses
·       Global merchant coverage now includes over 1000 online platforms, more than 10 major airports, 90,000 convenience stores and over 360,000 restaurants

In particular, the past 6 months have seen Alipay+ pushing forwards in markets such as South Korea and Japan, including the introduction of 3 more Asian e-wallets to Singapore. The brand is making great headway in connecting these Asian markets with the world through its seamless payment methods.

Angel Zhao, Ant Group’s President of International Business commented: “Alipay+ offers cross-border digital payment and marketing solutions connecting global merchants, online and offline, with multiple e-wallets and payment methods from different countries and regions, helping the merchants to engage with mobile-savvy consumers of those payment methods. We are off to a remarkable start since its official debut last year”.

 
Ant Group Grows STB Partnership to Drive Singapore Tourist Demand with Alipay+
·       Ant Group is making travel to Singapore more streamlined and convenient by launching the SingaporeReimagine with Alipay+ campaign alongside the Singapore Tourism Board.
·       3 new mobile wallets, GCash from the Philippines, TrueMoney from Thailand, and AlipayHK from Hong Kong SAR, will now be accepted in Singapore through Alipay+, bringing the total number to 6 – all of which will be included in a scheme that grants users exclusive offers when they travel to the country.
·       Travellers with these mobile wallets can easily and securely transact with local businesses across tourism and lifestyle industries that accept Alipay+, using their preferred payment methods.

Ms Angel Zhao, President of International Business, Ant Group said, “We deeply believe that the benefits of digital innovations can be amplified through open collaborations in the ecosystem. Ant Group is always open to join hands with partners such as STB to provide businesses, especially small and micro enterprises the best digital services, including payments and marketing solutions and we are committed to contributing to the digital transformation of industries and creating greater value for societies.”