Experts Question Alipay's Backup Plans after Long Glitch

(Beijing) – Alipay did not work for about 2½ hours on May 27, prompting experts to question the backup measures in place for the popular online payment tool.

Alipay stopped working for online shoppers at around 5 p.m. Many people said phone calls to Alipay's service center were not answered.

Alipay is owned by Ant Financial Services Group, itself affiliated with Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. It says it has 70 percent of China's third-party payment market and handled an average of more than 10 billion yuan worth of transactions every day last year.