2018 Golden Week: Alipay Processes 2.2 Times as Many Overseas In-Store Transactions, Compared to Last Year

Alipay, the world’s largest mobile payment and lifestyle platform operated by Ant Financial Services Group, today announced the overseas transaction summary for this year’s Golden Week (October 1 – 7).

Alipay processed 2.2 times as many overseas in-store transactions during this year’s holiday compared to last year.

Asia continued to dominate the top ten list of destinations in terms of transaction volume. Hong Kong topped the list again, with Thailand retaining its #2 ranking. Japan rose to #3 this year.

Less visited destinations in Europe saw some of the fastest growth in Alipay use compared to the year before, thanks to the mass rollout of Alipay to merchants across the region over the last 12 months. Switzerland saw 27 times the volume of transactions than in 2017.

Below are a few quick snippets of Alipay usage and performance within Singapore:

Transactions:

• Singapore’s transaction volume was ranked 9, globally – 2.1 times of last year, after Thailand.
• The average spend per Alipay was: 1,648 yuan, 1.27 times of last year. On a global level, transaction spend was ranked 20^th
• The YoY transaction volume in Singapore was 1.5x times of last year

Transport & Destinations:

• Changi Airport, taxis, and attractions were widely accessed places and modes highly preferred by Chinese tourists
• Changi Airport was ranked 2nd amongst all airports globally per transaction volume – right after Hong Kong International Airport. Average spend per user on the airport was 1,342 yuan
• The YoY transaction volume was 1.5x times of last year
• Chinatown was ranked 2^nd per transaction volume globally, right after Melbourne’s Chinatown. The average spend per user was 270 yuan.
• The YoY transaction volume in Chinatown was 7.7x times of last year

Average total spend per user increased 30% to RMB1,979 (approx. US$288) from last year’s RMB1,534 (approx. US$223). Average total spend per user was highest in Denmark at RMB8,764 (approx. US$1,276), followed by France and Italy. EMEA destinations accounted for most of the countries in the top 10 in terms of the highest total spend per user.

For each continent, Europe average: RMB3,630 (approx. US$528), US & Canada: RMB1,888 (approx. US$275), Australia and New Zealand: 1,819 yuan (approx. US$265), Southeast Asia: 1,527 yuan (approx. US$222), East Asia: 1,850 yuan (approx. US$269).

Iceland and the Maldives started to provide Alipay payment services for Chinese travellers ahead of this year’s Golden Week. Alipay is currently available for use to Chinese travellers in over forty countries and regions globally.

There were twice as many women as men who used Alipay overseas.

Those born in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s accounted for 96% of all those who used Alipay overseas. The number for those born in the 1960s using Alipay overseas during Golden Week doubled compared to last year.

Over 3.1 million Chinese participated in Alipay’s Golden Week lucky draw by interacting with Alipay’s official Weibo account. On October 7th, a 26-year-old woman from Beijing was announced as the winner. She received prizes provided by over 200 merchants across 15 countries and regions globally. The lucky draw campaign attracted over 230 million views for Alipay and its merchant partners and led to widespread discussion on social and traditional media in China during the 7-day competition period.

Over 3 million Alipay e-Coupons were used by overseas travellers to secure discounts for shopping, dining and taxi rides.