CommBank to offer Alipay to customers in-store

The Commonwealth Bank will offer customers the use of the payment app Alipay on its Albert touchscreen device in-store from today.

In a statement, the CBA said Alipay would be available for in-store payments, claiming this would be the biggest on-borading of local businesses to the platform with 94,000 Albert devices available across the country.

Last week, the bank said it would begin offer Apple Pay, after a long period of refusing to offer the popular payment service.

CBA has become the second of the big four banks to sign up for Alipay, with NAB last month signing an agreement to make the service available. But NAB will only offer the service next year.

The CBA said Alipay, operated by Ant Financial Services Group, would help businesses to better target and connect with Chinese consumers by improving the point-of-sale experience and creating a marketing channel.

“Local businesses can now start accepting Alipay by downloading on their Albert device the ePay app, which is an existing CBA app provider. Through ePay, businesses also have the ability to further boost their sales by using location-based promotional campaigns to Alipay wallet users, even before they arrive in Australia,” it said.

CBA executive general manager, Business Customer Solutions, Clive Van Horen, said: “This is a game changer and we are thrilled to be the first major bank to provide Alipay as a payment option for customers, through our market leading and innovative apps ecosystem, Albert App Bank.

“We are constantly working on payment solutions that offer flexibility and choice for our customers, and this is another example of CBA’s leadership in the delivery of technology-enabled business solutions, coming on the heels of recently launched products including Simplify, Daily IQ, Wiise, and the pilot of CommBank Health Claim.”