No wallet, no worries: Australian shops adopt Chinese payment apps

Businesses are signing up to China’s mobile payment services to tap into the lucrative Chinese tourism and international student markets.

Vicky Yang pays for her groceries, not with cash or card, but by using an app on her mobile phone. The 25-year-old international student simply scans the Sydney supermarket’s QR code with her smartphone, and in seconds the transaction is completed.

“It’s very convenient … you don’t need to take your bank card or cash. You just take out your mobile phone and you can pay,” Ms Yang told SBS News in Mandarin.

The most popular apps are Alipay, owned by e-commerce giant Alibaba, and WeChat Pay, from messaging app Wechat. Only Chinese citizens with a Chinese bank account can set up accounts.

The practice is common in Ms Yang’s hometown of Beijing and now she can do the same in a growing number of stores in Australia.

Supermarkets and chemists across the country, as well as some taxi companies, are beginning to accept Chinese mobile payments, capitalising on Australia’s growing number of tourists and international students.

Mariana Yudas is the manager at an IGA store near Sydney’s Chinatown, which began using Alipay seven months ago.

“We have a lot of Chinese customers in Australia so it’s very good, we attract more customers to come to the store,” she said.

Alipay Australia CEO George Lawson said it expanded its services overseas to allow its highly-active Chinese customers to pay with a method they are familiar with.

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Source: No wallet, no worries: Australian shops adopt Chinese payment apps