Alibaba and Ingenico are collaborating to allow Chinese consumers use Alipay in Europe.

The agreement marks an opportunity for Alipay, a unit of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, to establish its mobile-payment service in Europe. Alipay would be embedded into Ingenico’s in-store payment gateway so the Chinese mobile payment app will work in European stores featuring the terminals, according to Fortune. 

Like Us on Facebook

The French payments processing group said that the deal would offer both online and in-store payment solutions to Europe-wide acquirers and merchants. Ingenico also stated that European acquirers would be able to implement the Chinese online payment app via the Ingenico payment gateway, enhancing the customer travel experience for Chinese tourists visiting Europe.

“Payment becomes a friction for business so we are removing this friction by allowing the retailers to capture sales to the Chinese tourist population,” said Jacques Behr, Ingenico’s executive vice-president for Europe and Africa.

According to Ingenico Group’s CEO Philippe, the company’s huge rate of success and its ability to meet the requirements of some of the most demanding customers are part of the reason why Alibaba was interested in the partnership.

In addition, the company’s mobile commerce division Ingenico Payments will also offer payment processing services for Chinese merchants. This is not the first deal between the two giants. Ingenico's mobile division already carries out online processing for Alipay’s cross-border transactions for international firms such as Etihad and Air France.

Moreover, the Paris-based payments software and terminals producer said the deal would benefit Chinese merchants as they would now be provided with full-service payment processing solutions. This would help Alipay to optimize the processing of payments. Additionally, it will allow Alipay to accept payments from European customers with MasterCard, Visa and other cards who buy goods through various online marketplaces it runs, such as AliExpress.

Alipay must negotiate with banks and other acquiring agents before the app can be used in-store but both companies estimate that Alipay will be available in Europe within a few months, Financial Times reported.

TagsAlibaba, Alipay, Ingenico, Alibaba payment deal Europe, china, Ingenico Payments, Chinese Tourists, Europe