Alipay Chases Chinese Tourists to Japan
- Mizuho likens Alipay threat to 19th century ‘black ships’
- Ant Financial Japan CEO isn’t ready to take on local consumers
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Alipay is chasing Chinese tourists to Japan, where it’s signing up a growing number of retailers and eyeing the long-term potential of the nation’s $45 billion digital payments market.
The volume of payments processed on Alipay in the country swelled about eight times in the 12 months to September, said Genki Oka, Japan chief executive officer of Ant Financial, which operates the platform. Its network of vendors has climbed to about 38,000 as of November from 20,000 in February, closing in on a target of doubling within a year, Oka said in an interview.