Alipay Ventures into Logistics

Posted by Joachim Bartels | Mar 25, 2012 | Alibaba, Alipay, China, E-Commerce, Payment Services | 0 |

Alibaba Group’s e-payment subsidiary, Alipay, announced plans to invest US$79 million to diversify its business into the China logistics market over the next three years.

The investment will see Alipay unveil handheld devices that can be used to track parcels and accept payments for goods purchased online. The portable devices target China’s collect-on-delivery (COD) market, which according to Alipay, is the preferred method of payment for 70% of all online purchases made on China’s B2C sites, excluding those on the Alibaba Group’s Tmall.

An Alipay spokesperson stated the new service will only cater to offline payment for online purchases. The small processing fee charged to consumers will be split by Alipay (20%), banks (70%) and UnionPay (10%) – China’s bankcard association processing inter-bank transactions.

Source: Business Strategies Group – www.bsgasia.com –

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Joachim Bartels

Joachim C Bartels is a co-founder, director, head of information resources and Editor-in-Chief of BIIA. In his capacity as Editor-in-Chief he is responsible for the selection of relevant information content concerning industry insights, trends, technological developments, standards and policies impacting BIIA members in particular and the business information industry in general.

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