Ant Group

Ant Financial’s Alipay is deploying blockchain technology to power a cross-border remittance service for Pakistan’s Telenor Microfinance Bank and Valyou of Malaysia.

China's Ant Financial, the Alibaba payments affiliate that operates Alipay, is reportedly in the advanced stages of talks to buy WorldFirst, an international payments provider based in London.

Alipay is upgrading its facial recognition technology to make it more accessible to users and to make it harder for crooks to game the system

Vipps International, a Norway-based payments service operated by a coalition of more than 100 Norwegian banks, is the latest to collaborate with China’s Alipay mobile wallet in a partnership to capture more payments from Chinese tourists.

Chinese payment companies have successfully lured merchants outside of China by enabling payments for Chinese tourists, a use case Tencent hopes will work in Japan, where rival Alipay lurks.

Ant Financial’s push to expand global acceptance of its Alipay mobile wallet to wherever Chinese tourists go continues in Australia through Tyro, a fintech payments operation that obtained a banking license in 2015.

Despite the fervor over mobile wallets and banking, one day consumers may never need to open a dedicated bank or payment app.

Chinese tourists visiting the U.S. and Canada will be able to use Alipay at HMSHost-operated restaurants in most major airports.

Ant Financial, Alibaba’s finance affiliate controlled by billionaire Jack Ma, agreed to buy a stake in the Brazilian payments firm StoneCo Ltd after the company prices its initial public offering, joining Warren Buffett in investing in Brazil’s booming financial-technology startup landscape.

China’s Golden Week started on Monday and with it, global cities and merchants are boldly promoting Alipay in an effort to capture Chinese tourist dollars. At the same time, merchants are building out a competitive acceptance network that could someday rival the major payment card networks.