Alipay Hitches Ride Into New York, Las Vegas

Make room in the back seat, Big Apple and Sin City.

Chinese travelers could find a slice of home on their next trip to two of America’s most popular destinations, with the rollout of the popular Alipay electronic payments service in thousands of taxis in New York and Las Vegas. The move comes courtesy of a tie-up between Alipay and U.S. communications specialist Verifone Systems Inc.

The launch will make Alipay a payment option in about 14,000 of New York’s famous yellow cabs, and in another 2,100 taxis in equally popular Las Vegas for legions of globe-trotting Chinese by the end of this month, the pair said in announcing the partnership.

The deal extends a previous relationship between Verifone and Alipay, as the latter extends its reach to cater to the millions of overseas Chinese users of a service that is increasingly ubiquitous in their home market and quickly replacing the need for cash.

“Paying for taxis can be one of the most stressful elements of traveling abroad, particularly if you don’t speak the language,” said Souheil Badran, president of Alipay North America. “By extending our partnership with Verifone to taxis in New York and Las Vegas, two of the most popular destinations in America for Chinese tourists, we are giving greater confidence to Chinese travelers that they will be able to pay for their taxi ride using the same convenient payment method they use at home, without language barriers.”

Alipay and a rival payment service operated by internet giant Tencent Holdings Ltd. have come to dominate China’s electronic payments market over the last two years, allowing users to link their bank accounts to the service and pay for items using smartphone-generated bar and QR codes. Chinese spent an estimated 58.5 trillion yuan ($8.86 billion) in mobile transactions last year alone, more than quadruple the previous year, with Alipay and Tencent controlling more than 90% of the market, according to iResearch.

As more Chinese go abroad for work and vacation, both Tencent and Alipay are trying to make their payment services available in some of the most popular destinations to cater to those travelers. The latest taxi deal extends a tie-up formed last year as part of that expansion, allowing Alipay to offer its service to Verifone’s merchants in Europe and North America. Alipay parent Ant Financial Services Group is also pursuing its global expansion through a pending $3.5 billion purchase of U.S. electronic fund transferring specialist MoneyGram International Inc.

Contact reporter Yang Ge (geyang@caixin.com)