Alipay has formed a new partnership with Italy's UniCredit to make the Chinese payment service available in the European country.

The two companies have already entered the operational stage, allowing Chinese visitors to use Alipay when purchasing goods and services in Italy. The Alipay users will be able to use the app they are accustomed to in their homeland. The partnership was made possible by employing the UniCredit’s merchant customers Points of Sale in reading bar codes generated by Alipay. 

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“It’s our honor to offer users Alipay’s payment and lifestyle services in Italy by cooperating with UniCredit. The seamless in-app payment and marketing solutions provided by Alipay creates a cashless, efficient and productive way to do business, removing language, currency and cultural barriers between Italian merchants and Chinese tourists. We are dedicated to enhancing our technology-backed services to create a better experience for both merchants and tourists,” explained Rita Liu, Head of Alipay Europe.

Popular Italian outlets and stores are now using Alipay and it includes food and beverage Eataly and fashion boutique Antonia, letting Alipay transactions in its store in Brera. It will be available to Lagardere, a major part of the travel retail sector for Italian airports. Moreover, other important brands and distributors of the Fashion & Luxury sectors like Pisa Orologerie, Morellato, Fedon and Mitsukoshi will start accepting Alipay payments. Alipay will be used in 120,000 merchant network located in different parts of Italy. 

Alipay is launched by Alibaba Group in 2011 and has been the most used mobile payment method in China. It has more than 450 million active users that are allowed to make in-store payments in various markets popular with Chinese tourists around the world. Currently, Alipay is accepted in 70 countries and regions, with in-store payments covering around 100,000 retail stores.

TagsAlipay, china, Italy, Alibaba, UniCredit, Chinese tourist, mobile payment service