Services
Alipay states that it operates with more than 65 financial institutions including Visa and MasterCard[25] to provide payment services for Taobao and Tmall as well as more than 460,000 online and local Chinese businesses.
Alipay is used in smartphones with their Alipay Wallet app. QR code payment codes are used for local in-store payments.[26] The Alipay app also provides features such as credit card bill payments, bank account managements, P2P transfer, prepay mobile phone top-up, bus and train ticket purchases, food orders, vehicles for hire, insurance selections and a digital identification document storage.[27] Alipay also allows online check-out on most Chinese-based websites such as Taobao and Tmall.[28]
The Alipay app allows users to add their own services provided from different companies to create a more personalised experience.[29]
Since late 2008, Alipay has promoted public service payment services and has covered more than 300 cities nationwide, supporting more than 1,200 partner organizations.[30] In addition to utility bills such as water and electricity, Alipay also extends their services to areas such as paying transportation fines, property fees, and cable television fees.[31] Common online payment services also include hydropower coal payment, tuition payment and traffic fine.[32]
On 15 January 2009, Alipay launched a credit card repayment service, supporting 39 domestic bank-issued credit cards.[33] It is currently the most popular third-party repayment platform. The main advantages are free credit card bills checking, repayments with no administrative fee, as well as automatic repayment, repayment reminders and other value-added services.[34] In the first quarter of 2014, 76% of credit cards were also paid by Alipay Wallet.
From December 2013, several chain convenience store companies, including Meiyijia, Hongqi Chain, and Qishiduo C-STORE and 7-Eleven, have successively supported Alipay payment; in December, Beijing taxi drivers began to accept Alipay to pay the fare. Subsequently, Wanda Cinema, Joy City, Wangfujing and other large-scale retail companies as well as movie theaters, KTV, and catering companies have access to Alipay. From 26 March 2019, the service fee will be charged for the payment of credit card through Alipay. Customers only pay the portion of the payment that exceeds 2,000 yuan at 0.1%.[35] In addition to this, in 2019, Walgreens accepted Alipay as payment in 3,000 US stores. Walgreen's products are available to Chinese customers through Alibaba's Tmall online marketplace.[36] The payment application can also be used on Alibaba.com's site and Taobao as a means of payment. A Nielsen report suggests that over 90% of Chinese tourists would be willing to use mobile payment overseas if given the option.[37] Many Chinese tourists do not have international credit cards, and so Alipay is a payment option. Digital payments have become the norm in China as the government pushes a cashless system even in rural and village areas.[38]
In November 2019, Alipay introduced Tourpass,[39] a service component that allows non-Chinese users to use its mobile payment feature by pre-loading Chinese Yuan equivalent foreign currency into the app.[40]
In 2020, Alipay used a QR code system to help in containing the COVID-19 outbreak. The health code system tags users one of three colors according to their location, basic health information and travel history.[41]
"Beauty filters" were included to Alipay's face-scan payment system in a new upgrade that was released in July 2019. The market has responded well to the "beauty filters," which make users seem better when they use the program to make payments.[42]
