Business-only bank Tyro has entered into an agreement with Alipay to offer the first all-in-one EFTPOS solution to assist Australian businesses’ access to the Chinese visitor market.
“This is an exciting initiative for businesses in Australia, especially for those in the retail and hospitality sectors,” says Robbie Cooke, CEO of Tyro.
“It sees Tyro continue to challenge the status quo, being the first Australian bank to give its merchants the opportunity to seamlessly integrate with Alipay, enabling them to better serve Chinese tourists and giving customers more choice in how they want to pay.”
Tyro is currently working with several merchants to determine appropriate pilot sites for launch by the end of 2018. Tyro will offer Alipay to its other eligible businesses from second quarter 2019.
The Alipay integration continues Tyro’s strategy of enabling its merchants to accept all payment types, letting their customers choose the way they want to pay.
Operated by Alibaba Group’s affiliate Ant Financial, Alipay is the world’s leading mobile and online payment platform, and a popular app in China.
In Australia and New Zealand, Alipay now partners with more than 10,000 businesses, helping them capitalise on the lucrative and rapidly expanding Chinese visitor market. Tyro will be the first Australian bank offering all-in-one EFTPOS with integrated Alipay acceptance with its merchants.
“Australian businesses have been calling out for their banks to partner with Alipay to improve their exposure to the rapidly expanding Chinese visitor market so it’s pleasing to see Tyro take the lead on this and give their merchants access to new customers and incremental revenues,” Alipay ANZ Country Manager George Lawson says.
In 2017, almost 1.4 million Chinese tourists visited Australia, injecting $10.4 billion into the economy. This is predicted to rise to $13 billion by 2020.
Data from Nielsen indicates that 65 per cent of Chinese tourists use mobile payment platforms during their overseas travels, six times more than non-Chinese tourists.
In addition, more than 90 per cent of Chinese tourists would consider using Alipay when travelling abroad if Alipay were more widely accepted among foreign merchants. Moreover, more than 90 per cent of Chinese tourists indicated they would increase their spending if Alipay were an accepted payment method.
The Alipay integration is part of a wider scope from Tyro to offer alternative payments, as part of its existing EFTPOS and banking-specific products.
For more information, visit www.tyro.com
