Bottom line: Alipay’s move into Hong Kong through a tie-up with Marriott marks the start of a major global expansion for the online payment service, with Hong Kong the likely first stop due to its strong China ties.
Alipay in new Marriott tie-up
Homegrown Chinese electronic payments service Alipay is taking its growing rivalry with state-owned behemoth UnionPay to the global stage, with word of a major new move outside its home China market. That move will see Alipay follow a familiar route for many globally-minded Chinese companies, with a first stop in Hong Kong. It has Alipay forming a major new alliance in the former British colony with global hotel giant Marriott (NYSE: MAR), as the first stop on an overseas tour that could ultimately see the financial services affiliate of Alibaba (NYSE: BABA) challenge global names like Visa (NYSE: V) and MasterCard (NYSE: MA).
This latest move is part of a larger new tie-up between Marriott and Alipay, which is part of the Alibaba-affiliated but separately owned Ant Financial. The tie-up is mostly limited to mainland China initially, but significantly includes Hong Kong-based hotels. It also marks one of the biggest moves to date into Hong Kong by Alipay, which is better known as an electronic payments service used for smaller items usually costing $20 or less using shoppers’ online accounts and smartphones. Read Full Post…
Bottom line: Alibaba-affiliated Ant Financial is experiencing breakneck growth through its roll-out of a wide array of new products and services, and could be valued at up to $150 billion by the time it makes its IPO as soon as next year.
Ant Financial in Alipay offline campaign
A new report is spotlighting the rapid rise of Ant Financial, the financial services affiliate of e-commerce giant Alibaba (NYSE: BABA) that looks set to challenge not only domestic rival UnionPay but also upcoming drives into China by global giants Visa (NYSE: V) and MasterCard (NYSE: MA). Much of Ant’s incredibly rapid rise is tied to its core Alipay asset, which began life as an electronic payments service but is rapidly moving into other areas like credit card-style offline payments and savings account services.
The latest reports also contain a new figure on Ant’s valuation following its first major capital raising. That figure of $45 billion is substantially larger than an earlier figure of $30 billion that was contained in initial reports on the funding just a week ago. (previous post) But those earlier reports also pointed out the low valuation was based on shares that were probably sold at a discount to a big domestic institutional investor, perhaps for strategic reasons, and that the real value could be as high as $50 billion. Read Full Post…
Bottom line: China’s opening of the electronic payment services market could see PayPal and other foreign providers finally receive long-awaited licenses to operate in the market by year-end.
PayPal may finally get China green light
Foreign financial companies came a step closer to realizing a long-awaited goal last week, when Beijing announced it would allow them to open fully-owned electronic transaction processing ventures for e-commerce services in the year-old Shanghai free trade zone. The move comes after years of lobbying by foreign companies like PayPal, MasterCard (NYSE: MA) and Visa (NYSE: V), which have watched enviously at the rapid growth of a domestic financial system that China committed to open when it joined the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2001. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on April 23. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
══════════════════════════════════════════════════════
Visa (NYSE: V), MasterCard (NYSE: MA) Surge On China Move To End Card Monopoly (English article)
Chinese Banks Disobey Order To Support Housing Market (English article)
Bottom line: Wanda will face a steep uphill climb in electronic payments following its purchase of 99Bill, while UnionPay will continue to grow rapidly overseas as more Chinese travelers and businesses go abroad.
Wanda buys control of 99Bill
Two big news bits from the electronic payments space are in the headlines as we round out 2014, led by news of a major new acquisition by property giant Wanda Group just days after a Hong Kong IPO for its core shopping mall unit. The other new revolves around industry giant UnionPay, which has feasted on outbound Chinese tourist and business spending to pass larger global rivals MasterCard (NYSE: MA) and Visa (NYSE: V) for issuing credit cards in nearby South Korea. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on December 26. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
══════════════════════════════════════════════════════
Bottom line: China’s acceptance of applications for bank card clearing services from foreign firms marks a positive step for Visa and MasterCard, but it could still be years before such services become reality.
By Lu Jin
UnionPay set to lose longtime monopoly
Many people traveling to China may have experienced an embarrassing moment as they got stuck at the cashier in a local shop after having their foreign bank-issued credit card rejected. Anyone who has experienced such embarrassment knows that what happened next is they need to run around in desperate search for an ATM machine or simply forget about the purchase.
That situation is expected to change, or at least there is real hope now. Read Full Post…
Product development centers aren’t extremely expensive as investments, but they carry a much higher level of prestige for developing countries due to their status as cutting-edge centers for innovation. Against that backdrop, major new R&D moves by global corporate giants Adobe Systems (Nasdaq: ADBE) and Visa (NYSE: V) certainly don’t look too good for China. In the former case, software giant Adobe has announced it will shutter its China R&D facility, resulting in the loss of hundreds of jobs. In the latter, financial services giant Visa has also snubbed China by announcing a major new global technology development strategy that includes a new center in neighboring India but not in China. Read Full Post…
PayPal watches a China licenses first foreign e-payments firm
China has issued so many electronic payment licenses by now that I mostly ignore the steady stream of announcements about new licensees, who now number more than 250. I was getting ready to ignore the latest report of a new batch of such licenses, when my attention was attracted by a news bit deeper in the story saying the fifth batch of awards included the long-anticipated first license for a foreign-backed company. The move looks promising for a number of foreign companies that have been waiting impatiently for years to enter the market, led by eBay’s (Nasdaq: EBAY) PayPal online payments unit. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on April 18. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
══════════════════════════════════════════════════════
LightInTheBox Applies For NYSE IPO To Raise Up To $86 Mln (Chinese article)
PBoC May Issue Payment License to Tencent (HKEx: 700) WeChat (English article)
China CITIC Bank (HKEx: 998), MasterCard Sign Strategic Cooperation MOU (Businesswire)
Glencore (London: GLEN) Clinches Chinese Approval With Copper Deal (English article)
China Auto Rental Receives Hertz (NYSE: HTZ) Investment, May Restart IPO (Chinese article)
Finally there are some interesting news bits on e-commerce leader Alibaba that don’t involve its highly anticipated IPO, including a push into developing markets and a new tie-up with global electronics giant MasterCard (NYSE MA). Of the 2 bits, the former is a bit more intriguing because it represents a major move for the company outside the Chinese-speaking world for its highly successful consumer-oriented e-commerce services. The latter tie-up is interesting because it involves a big name like MasterCard, even though actual details are scarce and probably won’t get worked out until some point in the future. Read Full Post…
