Ant International has been appointed as the inaugural foreign Institution Partner (FIP) of China’s Cross-border Interconnection Payment Gateway (CPG), under the guidance of the People’s Bank of China and the Payment & Clearing Association of China (PCAC). The scheme aims to improve connection efficiency and system stability for overseas payment partners, opening a safe and smoother highway for them to access the Chinese market. Ant International and Alipay are the most prominent players in the CPG scheme, with the largest number of card network and wallet partners, the broadest use cases, and business volume.
Alipay+, the cross-border payment and digitization services under Ant International, will leverage this new direct connection setup to accelerate the growth of its partner ecosystem and expand global coverage. This will enable an even more convenient and secure travel experience for international consumers while helping international wallets connect their digital growth networks to 80 million Alipay merchants across China.
As a unified wallet gateway, Alipay+ now partners with 36 e-wallets and eight national QR payment schemes and payment systems worldwide, connecting over 100 million merchants to 1.8 billion consumer accounts.
As the FIP with the broadest fintech coverage in the new CPG scheme, Alipay+ enables seven major international bank card brands and users from twelve countries and regions to scan and pay transactions on the Chinese mainland. On top of that, Alipay+ also has various technology partnerships with over twenty e-wallets and payment networks across Asia, Europe, and other regions.
Alipay+ has built extensive partnerships with government-sponsored mobile payment schemes in emerging markets to support national digitization and inclusive growth agendas. Eight national QR schemes and payment systems are developing active international presence via Alipay+, including SGQR (Singapore), PayNet DuitNow (Malaysia), ZeroPay (South Korea), Bakong (Cambodia), NCHL/FonePay (Nepal), LankaPay (Sri Lanka), QRIS (Indonesia), and HUMO (Uzbekistan).
Asia-Pacific region reported USD 9.8 trillion in e-wallet transaction volume in 2023, accounting for nearly two-thirds of the global total, and maintains the world’s highest e-wallet penetration rate.
