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Alipay Now Selling Railway Tickets
7
Jun
Jun
Only when one lives in China does one understand the true importance of being able to purchase train tickets online. Many of us in the world take buying our train tickets online for granted where it has been normalized for many years now (although I still have my reservations about National Rail as an efficient company but more on that later).
Train tickets in China
For a long time in China, traveling by train means sacrificing days out of one's life to reach our destination; worst still was actually buying said tickets.
Recently, the official people in charge of railways in China have developed an online platform for train tickets, however this was still very limiting and didn't cater to everyone's needs.
Alibaba's foray into new e-commerce.
For those of you who have not heard: the giant e-commerce company Alibaba who own Taobao have developed a Paypal type service that allows us to make online and electronic payments in China. We recently learnt of a method for buying subway tickets through Alipay.
Newest development is train tickets. Indeed, Alipay has won the bid from the China Railway Investment Corp making them the official third-party partner for train ticket buying online.
This is good news for everyone as it will further simplify and streamline buying those god-forsaken tickets without enduring hours of queueing in the train stations or crashing websites.
China online
This move shows a willingness from the central authority to modernize their services as they realize it will help deal with what can be a major problem in China where the majority of the country still travels by train.
We know that the private sector is massively tech-savvy with former shopping centers turning 180 degrees towards the internet (Suning) and the literal explosion of e-commerce with shortening delivery times all over the country.
Alipay Launches Cardless Payment System in Beijing Subway
15
Apr
Apr
The Beijing underground system is about to get much more with the times now that online payment system Alipay is testing out its new smartphone-as-ticket service in one of Beijing's most used lines. This system could revolutionize how we deal with money in this city and make Alibaba a true leader of the tech industry in China.
Beijing of the future
Now the sources are not actually clear on whether the person receives a physical ticket or if they just carry the information on their smartphones which is then scanned at the gates but the gist of the story is that cardless, cashless payment is now available in China.
In order to use the service, Chinese users need to have an account with Alipay and then open up the mobile app on their smartphone and hold it close to one of the sensors in the Beijing subway. From that point on they have paid for their ticket and can make their way onto the train.
Apparently, the smartphone makes the sound of a choo choo train once the transaction has gone through. Admittedly, one would need to hear this sound in person to see if it is indeed like a train.
The new money?
For now there are two of these sensor machines on Beijing's line 4; there are plans to expand onto the rest of the line in the coming months and throughout the subway system later on. Much like the Octopus card in Hong Kong, the system could be expanded throughout Beijing's shopping centers, convenience stores and maybe even the malatang joint round the corner; here's hoping.
If this service was to take off, it would cement Alibaba as a successful and leading company in China's tech world. Indeed, they would find themselves controlling a payment system that is not only massive in the e-commerce environment but would also be used daily throughout the city with people using it to pay for transport and chewing-gum.
For a country like China that is still heavily reliant on cash, this type of technological development could do wonders to move to a safer and more secure form of payment. If there were substantially less fake notes flying around, we'd all be better off.
For now though let us not get ahead of ourselves. There is a strong chance that cash will be around for a long time still.
Mastercard Wooing Alibaba Group
1
Apr
Apr
The global credit giant, MasterCard is hoping to develop closer ties with Chinese tech giant Alibaba, and more precisely their online payment service. Here is hoping they can push the development on mobile payment worldwide.
The focus will remain on e-commerce, thus pushing into Alibaba's area of expertise. However, as this field expands there could be scope for more daily mobile payment options.
What's in store?
Both companies have now signed a Memorandum of Understanding, a non-legally binding agreement that shows intent from both parties that a common line of work will be pursued together.
What this means for us is that both companies do indeed wish to work in conjunction but have not yet reached any decisions as to how. Thus, for now we can wait to see how the two companies will find common ground to work on.
Who is gaining what?
MasterCard has shown a willingness to expand itself into the Chinese consumer market. It therefore does not wish to export Alibaba services to the rest of the world…yet.
Alibaba, on the other hand would gain massively in credibility and safety if it were to take on a partner like MasterCard. Indeed, we are all rather wary when it comes to using our banking details online, so an internationally recognized name such as MasterCard could do wonders for e-commerce payment methods.
Good news for all
On the day of the news, MasterCard's shares were up by 0.6% which shows support and excitement for this new potential link. Investors will continue to pour their money (wisely) into China and its big e-commerce platforms.
There is a hope that as these forms of online and mobile payments develop and expand that our daily lives will incorporate small purchases through the use of phones and tablets. One can only dream of the day where Beijing travelcards can be used for more than just transport.
Alibaba Attracting Foreign Press
27
Mar
Mar
This week's issue of The Economist has put Alibaba on its cover. This is most likely the first time its readers have heard of the company. The article set out the place Alibaba and China holds in the e-commerce world as well as some thoughts on the future of the company.
What does The Economist have to say about Alibaba?
For those of you who are not avid readers of this weekly news magazine (my mother used to read it to us at bedtime), The Economist is a somewhat liberal magazine and has in recent years broached more into technological advancement in the world, and has since summer 2012 ran weekly stories on China. Most likely because we are just too important to ignore.
After explaining the rise of Alibaba and who Jack Ma is, the article claims an IPO is expected to be announced. Now, there is a little jumping of the gun here as there have been mere rumors about the IPO but nothing concrete has been announced.
The global future of the company
If Alibaba is to succeed in its Initial Public Offering it must not replicate the mistakes of Facebook. According to the Economist, it has the potential to become one of the leading tech companies in the world. And this is coming from a weekly news magazine that has been running since 1843.
One of its true strengths is its capacity to grow much more than it is at the moment, not only has it not reached the entirety of the chinese market, but it stands good ground to move onto the international scene.
Taobao could be bad news for ebay if the company do indeed manage to push their way into ebay's part of the market.
Risks for Alibaba?
An interesting part of the Economist's analysis is that it points out where the downfall could be if Alibaba does not play its cards right. Indeed, the magazine sets out two ways in which Alibaba could come tumbling down.
The curse of online shopping in China is that one is never sure about reliability of the products and where they have emerged from. Beyond the obvious references to fake goods, another is dubious origins. Indeed, whoever is at the helm of the company will need to ensure the company does not go too far in its expansion without being able to ensure the quality of products on its site, to a certain extent (italic).
Another risk is the backlash from foreign companies. We always treat with suspicion something we don't know and to all intent and purpose, companies do not know anything when it comes to new firms such as Alibaba. They are therefore more likely to band together and treat them with suspicion in a sort of "better safe than sorry" mentality. Luckily, Alibaba has a positive, if not absent, international image.
Nothing secure
Although we must tread carefully when talking about the rise of Alibaba (and with that the rise of China). You can quote me in saying that Alibaba will still be around for a while, creating more wonderful services such as Alipay which make our daily lives easier and more tech savvy.
It is now crucial to follow the decisions made by Jonathan Lu, the new man in charge of the company. As the moves he makes in the years to come will either announce the tumbling of a company with great potential or see its growth rise up through the world ranks.
Stay posted!
Alibaba's New Mobile, Cardless Credit
14
Mar
Mar
Alibaba has very generously developed more ways for us to spend money we don't have, and accumulate debt. Three cheers for Alibaba!
The latest news to come out of the internet giant is that it is testing a new mobile service that allows people to pay for things on credit through the medium of their smartphone. All outstanding credit will then be paid through normal debit card. Genius I tell you, it's like a glorified version of an oyster card with a big scare at the end of the month.
This service will start out solely in Zhejiang and Hunan provinces for now, if the test trials go well there, they will expand to the rest of China.
This new service is being pioneered by Alibaba Small & Micro FInancial Services Group led by former Alipay CEO Peng Lei.
How does it work?
APPARENTLY, the service works like this: the buyer purchases something and a commission of between 0.8 and 1 percent is added to the price. Said buyer then has 7 days to clear the outstanding amount.
The customer's history of payment does influence how much credit he or she gets. This means that info such as how good you are at paying you debts off alipay and what not come into the fore.
If you don't pay your outstanding balance within the year, your Alipay account is deactivated and NO MORE SHOPPING ONLINE. The thought alone petrifies me.
Alibaba has announced that it will be hoping to develop partnership with commercial banks, thus developing a more sound credit service to go alone with the mobile payment service.
Data banks
Former CEO and current Chairman of this glorious company, Jack Ma has claimed that the future of the internet lies in data mining and financial services. Something he is trying to link together by offering banks a peek into Alibaba's consumer information.
Will these new services shimmy in a new era of virtual money and smartphones as the basis for everything?
Is this all safe?
Although may use this argument for credit cards in general, I would feel somewhat worried about no realizing how much money I spend and then realize I owe thousands of RMB to the bank!
But not only that, what about safety and data protection on our phones? Mobile internet just seems to exist in the ether without us ever really worrying about who actually has access to our information.
However, if the credit levels stay low and it does not encourage people to spend recklessly then there's a lot of good to say about what Alibaba have developed.
Alipay Becomes World’s Largest Online Payment System
25
Nov
Nov
Alipay, the online payment system owned by Alibaba Group, has become the world's largest online payment company, beating PayPal in terms of registered users and transaction volume.
Alipay hits 500 million registered users
Launched in 2004, Alipay is China’s most popular online payment system. The platform is mostly used for C2C and B2B transaction payment, notably on Taobao and Alibaba.
According to the merchant division's general manager, Wang Gang, Alipay has currently more than 500 million registered users (they were “only” 300 million in March 2010). The company operates 7 million transactions a day that account for 2 billion Yuan (approximately $300 million).
Alipay has actually surpassed its expectations which were last year to overtake PayPal in 2011.
Alipay wants to expand overseas
Alipay which already have operations overseas in many Southeast Asian countries, as well as in Europe and South Korea, plans to expand into new international markets.
Currently the goal of the company is to increase the contribution of the global market beyond China. Indeed, most of Alipay's overseas transactions are still orders from Chinese buyers.
Paypal targets China
Alipay’s international intentions are necessary since its major international competitor, PayPal, has had a rapid growth in China’s online payment market during the first half of this year (nearly 88%).
PayPal processed more than $2 billion in transactions to China, involving mostly Chinese merchants and overseas buyers.
The battle between Alipay and Paypal will be more and more fierce in the coming years. Even if Alipay has an advantage in China, Paypal can count on its partnership with Chinese company UnionPay, giving customers an electronic payment solution to buy online.
Top online payment platforms in China, Japan and South Korea
7
Jul
Jul
With the development of e-business, many different payment systems have emerged for online merchants.
E-commerce payment systems include traditional credit/debit/charge cards but also new technologies such as digital wallets, e-cash, mobile payment and e-checks.
Alipay and Paypal lead worldwide PSP market
Another form of payment system is allowing a third-party company to complete the online transaction for the user. These companies are called Payment Service Providers (PSP). They provide an easy, safe and secure way for individuals and businesses to make and receive payments on the Internet.
The two major 3rd-party online payment platforms in the world are AliPay (part of Alibaba's group - more than 300 million registered users) and PayPal (part of eBay's group - more than 220 million registered users).
Let's have a look at the top online payment platforms used in the three following North Asian countries: China, Japan, and South Korea.
Online payment platforms in China
Chinese online third-party payment market is led by Alipay and Tenpay which both account for more than 70% of all electronic payments in China (credit/debit cards included) in 2010 Q1 according to iResearch.
Here is a list of the most popular online third-party payment platforms used in China.
- Alipay
Alipay is the leading third-party online payment platform in the world. As of March 2010, it had more than 300 million registered users. The platform is mainly used for C2C (taobao.com) and B2B (alibaba.com) transaction payment as well as online game, digital content, and air tickets.
- Tenpay
TenPay is an online payment solution offering both a solution for companies looking to install an online payment system as well as a payment solution powering a variety of Tencent’s offerings such as PaiPai (online trading platform) and Qzone (SNS).
- 99Bill
99Bill is a Shanghai-based independent third-party payment service provider mainly used for C2C, B2C, B2B, donation, discount bond, and mobile phone recharge transaction payment.
- iPS
Headquartered in Shanghai, International Payment Solutions (iPS) is one of the pioneers in the third-party payment industry in China.
- YeePay
YeePay is a Beijing-based e-payment service provider based in Beijing enabling users to make and receive payments over the Internet, mobile and telephone, especially for e-ticket, tourist, and digital content payment.
- PayEase
PayEase is mainly used for B2C, B2B, and public bill (mobile phone recharge, Internet access fee, exam entry fee, and donation).
- PayPal
Paypal is used as C2C payment service mostly on ebay and eachnet.com.
It isn't very popular in China, maybe due to local restrictions: indeed, in China PayPal offers two kinds of accounts: PayPal.com accounts, for sending and receiving money to/from other PayPal.com accounts and PayPal.cn accounts, for sending and receiving money to/from other PayPal.cn accounts.
All non-Chinese accounts are PayPal.com accounts, so these accounts may be used to send money internationally.
However, it's impossible to send money between PayPal.cn accounts and PayPal.com accounts, so PayPal.cn accounts are effectively unable to make international payments. For PayPal.cn, the only supported currency is the Chinese Yuan (Renminbi).
Regarding the usage of credit cards, Chinese mainly trust three actors, namely China UnionPay (national bankcard association in China), ChinaPay and Chinabank.
Online payment platforms in Japan
Japanese businesses and individuals usually use bank transfer and credit card payment methods when they shop online. However, online merchants in Japan also offer third-party payment platforms such as PayPal and Yahoo! Easy Payment.
Yahoo! Easy Payment is an online payment service mainly used on Yahoo! Japan Auction.
Online payment platforms in South Korea
In addition to foreign third-party online payment platforms like Alipay and PayPal, KOPS (KOTRA Online Payment System) is rather popular among South Korean businesses, especially among B2B exporters.
The success of KOPS can be explained by two factors: its fees are very competitive compared to Alipay and PayPal, and KOPS membership grants significant discount for DHL and EMS shipping.
Do you know other popular online payment platforms used in these countries?
