Alipay agrees to remittance partnership with Mastercard

Mastercard has entered into a partnership with mobile payment giant Alipay to allow consumers worldwide to make international transfers to China. This collaboration expands on Mastercard’s existing partnership with Ant Group.

The agreement with Alipay is seen as a key addition to Mastercard’s international remittances offering, giving its global bank, fintech, and corporate customers the ability to connect to the popular e-wallet in near real-time. Alipay, a super-app that serves over 1 billion users in China, is a dominant player in the digital payment space.

According to Dennis Chang, division president for greater China at Mastercard, China is already one of the largest recipient countries for international remittances globally. He highlighted that with the ongoing recovery of global economic activities, the demand for cross-border payments is expected to rise.

Alipay, along with its competitor WeChat Pay, are the primary digital payment platforms in China, accounting for 90 percent of online payments in 2023 according to data from Statista. This partnership between Mastercard and Alipay is expected to further streamline international transactions and enhance financial connectivity between consumers worldwide and China.