Alipay, a Hangzhou, China-based online payment network, has announced that Alibaba Group will invest a total of RMB5bn (approximately US$732m) over the next five years.
The capital infusion will be used to upgrade the payment solution for e-commerce in China and around the world. Alipay’s solutions enable individuals and businesses to execute payments online in a safe and secure manner. Alipay, which had a registered user base of over 300m as of March 2010, partners with banks to provide an escrow service for payments, which reduces the settlement risks faced by Alipay’s customers in their e-commerce transactions.
Alipay was founded by Alibaba Group in 2004.
In particular, the investment will be used to:
– enhance infrastructure security;
– develop products to improve ease of use and convenience for customers;
– continue to grow a massive number of consumer accounts;
– build a comprehensive network of merchants; and retain and attract top-tier talent from the payments industry.
According to an official press release, “with this investment, Alipay will be able to attract and train a larger pool of talented professionals from the payments industry who will build a truly globalized and sophisticated e-commerce payment infrastructure. Alipay will also commit additional resources into online safety and security, risk and data management, as well as innovate in new technology areas such as mobile payments”.
FinSMEs
12/04/2010