Singapore's Suntec City inks partnership with Alipay to draw Chinese tourists

By Digital News Asia February 15, 2018

Two-year partnership to launch Alipay touchpoints
By July 2018, the partners plan to cover 60% of the stores

Singapore's Suntec City inks partnership with Alipay to draw Chinese tourists

SUNTEC City and Alipay have inked a two-year partnership to launch Alipay touchpoints in Suntec City.

The two-year partnership between Suntec City, one of Singapore’s largest shopping malls and Alipay, the world’s largest mobile payment and lifestyle platform operated by Ant Financial Services Group, is set to attract more Chinese tourists and enhance their shopping experience at Suntec City.

Under the partnership, approximately 350 retail establishments in Suntec City will progressively roll out Alipay as a payment option for Chinese tourists. By July 2018, the partners plan to cover 60% of the stores with Alipay touchpoints.

To enable merchants to leverage on the Alipay platform to engage Chinese tourists, Alipay and its acquirer partners will jointly organise a series of workshops to sign up with Alipay and to promote merchants’ businesses on the Alipay platform.

Acquirers also provide hands-on training to merchants to operate the Alipay payment terminal and manage strategic content feature of merchants’ offers.

Alipay has also launched a dedicated Suntec City microsite within its app to provide ongoing publicity to Suntec City and its merchants.

Chan Kong Leong, chief executive officer of Suntec Real Estate Investment Trust, which owns Suntec City said, “With an extensive range of shopping, dining and entertainment offerings coupled with the iconic Fountain of Wealth as well as being the embarkation point for the Duck & Hippo Tours, Suntec City is a popular destination amongst tourists.

“We are delighted to partner Alipay to offer our Chinese shoppers a seamless payment system that they are familiar with. This partnership with the market leader in mobile and online payment platforms is a great opportunity for us to elevate engagement with our shoppers in the digital space.”

“Suntec City is a must-visit shopping destination among Chinese tourists and business delegates who convene at Suntec Singapore for exhibitions, seminars and conferences.

“We are happy to partner with Suntec City to deploy Alipay touchpoints in the mall for Chinese visitors who are looking for the best of retail and lifestyle offerings and the same seamless shopping experiences that they enjoy at home.

“At the same time, we are very excited to help merchants in Suntec City connect with Chinese visitors.” said Cherry Huang, general manager, Cross-border Business for South and Southeast Asia, Alipay.

According to the Singapore Tourism Board, Singapore received 15.9 million international visitors in the first 11 months of 2017, during which, the number of visitors from China reached close to three million, a 13.1% increase from a year ago.

This also makes China the single largest contributing country to Singapore’s tourism industry.