Over Half of 2014 Alipay Transactions were Mobile
- Monday, December 8th, 2014
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Alipay, the online payment platform operated by Chinese retail giant Alibaba Group, saw mobile transactions leap to represent 54 per cent of all transactions so far in 2014, a rise of around 245 per cent on the previous year.
The increase was partially driven by Chinese consumers in rural areas and smaller cities adopting mobile devices as their primary tool for online shopping, according to research carried out by the firm.
However, over 55 per cent of mobile transactions in the year so far still came from first-tier cities and coastal provinces where adoption is already established, including Beijing, Shanghai, Guangdong and Jiangsu.
According to a report by the China Internet Network Information Centre published in July, mobile has become the primary method of accessing the Internet among Chinese consumers, with more people getting online using mobile phones than on personal computers, and so mobile transactions represent a huge opportunity for Alibaba and other players in the APAC market.
Alipay is the largest payment service provider in China, and is controlled by Alibabas executive chairman and founder Jack Ma, with significant shareholders including others in Alibabas management committee.