Alipay has partnered with Zapper, the fast-growing mobile payment, customer insights and digital marketing platform developed in South Africa, so Chinese tourists can use their smartphones to pay via QR code while traveling through South Africa.
According to news from Finextra, Chinese tourists will be able to use the Alipay app to pay at 10,000 Zapper-affiliated merchant locations across the country. They will also be able to search for restaurants, bars, theatres, book shops, adventure parks and more through Alipay’s in-app Discovery platform, as well as pay for their orders in RMB via Alipay by scanning a Zapper QR code.
“South Africa is a must-experience country for Chinese tourists visiting Africa. We are excited to partner with Zapper, the largest mobile payment provider in South Africa, to offer Chinese tourists a safe and convenient payment solution and seamless travel experience,” said Rita Liu, head of Alipay EMEA.
Alipay also recently launched the online payment service for “hop-on, hop-off” bus ticketing in Cape Town and Johannesburg in June.
“This cross-continental alliance is in line with a series of expansions into new verticals that Zapper has undertaken to diversify its services and further strengthen its position as South Africa’s mobile payment and loyalty rewards app of choice. These verticals include hospitality, retail, bill payment, eCommerce, donations, parking, fuel and convenience,” said Will Heygate, general manager of Zapper South Africa.
According to statistics from the South African Department of Tourism, over 110,000 Chinese tourists visited South Africa in fiscal 2016, with a year-on-year growth rate of 38 percent. The South African government — through the Department of Tourism’s National Tourism Sector Strategy (NTSS) — plans to create a total of 225,000 additional jobs by the year 2020 to generate economic growth and employment.
Alipay currently has more than 520 million Chinese users, while Zapper is rapidly growing in the global payment landscape, positioning each company to support South Africa’s strategy.