The news: Alipay+—Alipay’s merchant solutions suite—rolled out end-of-year shopping campaigns with merchants in select markets across Asia-Pacific and Europe in collaboration with partner wallets, per a press release.

Participating wallets include AlipayHK, GCash, Kakao Pay, TrueMoney, and Touch ’n Go. Promotions start in December and include digital coupons and instant discounts, depending on the location.

The opportunity: With holiday shopping in full swing, Alipay+’s campaign can achieve two key objectives.

It can encourage mobile wallet spending during the lucrative holiday season.

• Giving customers coupons and other discounts through their mobile wallets increases the chances that they spend with that payment method. More than half of Gen Zers, millennials, and Gen Xers worldwide are relying more on coupons and discounts due to rising costs, per Dynata.
• With winter holidays like Christmas and the Lunar New Year approaching, customers will likely spend big on gifts and other festivity-related purchases—helping bolster volume for Alipay+.

And it can help Alipay+ tighten partner loyalty.

• The discounts can drive sales volume for Alipay+ merchants. The campaign might also help Alipay+ attract new retailers, especially as many seek out merchant solutions providers that can help them better compete amid economic uncertainty.
• The campaign benefits participating mobile wallets by letting them capture more volume. It can also help drive long-term payment habits—making customers more likely to use mobile wallets on a regular basis.

Why it’s worth watching: Ant Group has been growing its international presence through Alipay+.

China’s tightening grip on Ant Group and other tech conglomerates has complicated Alipay’s growth. While the firm continues to innovate and expand its business in China, it’s also prioritized growing outside of the Chinese market through Alipay+.

Southeast Asia may be a key expansion market for Alipay+ thanks to the region’s increasing mobile payments penetration: More than 71 million people across six Southeast Asian countries will use proximity mobile payments in 2023—up from 64.7 million this year, per Insider Intelligence forecasts.

Related content: Check out our Southeast Asia Proximity Mobile Payments Forecast 2022 spotlight report to learn more about the factors driving growth in the region.

This article originally appeared in Insider Intelligence's Payments Innovation Briefing—a daily recap of top stories reshaping the payments industry. Subscribe to have more hard-hitting takeaways delivered to your inbox daily.

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