Alipay partners with six mobile wallets in Europe over QR code-based digital payments

Payments app Alipay has announced its collaboration with six mobile wallets in Europe to promote the easy use of QR code-based digital payments for travellers both on the Continent and from China.

Aiming for a launch this summer, Austria’s Bluecode, Helsinki-based ePassi, Spanish payments app Momo Pocket, Pagaqui of Portugal, Finland’s Pivo, Oslo-based Vipps and Alipay are working towards adopting a unified QR code based on Alipay technology. ePassi and Bluecode will offer technical services to the participating wallets to simplify the integration process.

Following the completion of the rollout, users of the six participating European digital wallets will be able to make QR code-based payments with their home apps at local merchants in 10 European countries where those apps are accepted. For merchants, this means accepting payments not only from users of their home-market apps but also from those of the six other partners.

The six mobile wallets count more than 5 million users among them, with about 190,000 merchants in Europe accepting payments via the apps. Alipay currently serves over 1 billion users with its Asia-based local e-wallets partners, many of whom are Chinese travelers increasingly heading to Europe for both business and holiday.

Helsinki-based ePassi and Oslo-based Vipps have started to prepare to release the standardized QR-code payments across several Nordic countries, following a similar agreement with Alipay announced last December where they would use Alipay’s QR-code technology to allow their respective customers to use the apps in each other’s markets. Momo, Pagaqui and Bluecode are aiming for rollout later this summer in their home markets. Alipay said it expected to expand these partnerships into more European countries and companies in the future.

As of May 2019, Alipay was accepted in 55 countries or regions in the world, of which 29 are in Europe.