Ant Group, the operator of Alipay+, the global cross-border digital payments and marketing solution, has deployed a total of four mobile wallets in the country.
Alipay+ is currently accepted by merchants in Manila and Cebu, that include AlipayHK (Hong Kong SAR), Kakao Pay (South Korea), Touch ‘n Go eWallet (Malaysia) and Alipay (Chinese mainland).
Mactan-Cebu International Airport (MCIA) has integrated Alipay+ across 90 percent of its merchants, ensuring that tourists can enjoy a digitally-enhanced cashless experience from the moment they arrive in Cebu.
“The integration of Alipay+ gives our passengers that exceptional convenience and more payment options when they travel through MCIA,” said Athanasios Titonis, Aboitiz InfraCapital chief executive officer assigned to MCIA.
MCIA is the second largest airport in the Philippines with over 11 million passengers annually, making it the second busiest airport in the country.
With its strategic location and world-class facilities, MCIA aims to establish itself as the main tourism gateway of the country with exceptional travel experience, connecting the world to the Philippines.
To date, MCIA is the first and only airport in the Philippines to receive the Airport Customer Experience accreditation from the Airports Council International.
“Philippines and its many islands, such as Cebu, have long been a favourite destination for Asian travellers and we look forward to working with our local partners to enhance their travel experience,” said Dr. Cherry Huang, general manager of Alipay+ Offline Merchant Services at Ant Group.
“We believe that digital adoption and solutions will shape travellers’ expectations, particularly in the way they engage travel-related businesses, from airports and hospitality to F&B and retail stores. Our focus now is to work with more partners to onboard more merchants with Alipay+ across the Philippines, particularly local small businesses, and promote digital travel and travel recovery,” added Huang.
Introduced by Ant Group in 2020, Alipay+ aims to enable local businesses, especially small and medium-sized businesses, to process a wide range of mobile payment methods and reach more than 1.4 billion regional and global consumers, through one-time integration and simple technical adaption.
In addition to the Philippines, Alipay+ is also widely accepted in destinations including the Chinese mainland, Macao SAR, Singapore, Thailand, Japan and South Korea, among others. – Myla Iglesias
