SINGAPORE. Alipay and Changi Airport Group (CAG) have struck a five-year partnership to roll out the Alipay mobile payment option at Singapore Changi Airport. A joint marketing agreement has also been agreed, with both parties set to offer customised and targeted shopping and dining offers to Chinese passengers using Alipay.
Alipay, operated by Ant Financial Services Group, is the world’s leading online and mobile payment platform with over 520 million active users, and is the first Chinese mobile payment partner for Changi Airport.
Changi Airport’s concession sales grew +5% year-on-year to a record S$2.3 billion in 2016, with travellers from China accounting for one-third of all retail sales.
The Alipay mobile payment service has been progressively offered as a new payment mode by Changi Airport’s tenants since May 2017, and is now available at more than 78 shopping and dining outlets at the location.
Under the joint marketing agreement, Alipay and CAG will collaborate to create passenger-centric content, providing information on promotions, as well as location-based information about shopping and dining options.
In addition, Alipay is also partnering with CAG in the eighth season of the “Be a Changi Millionaire” anchor shopping promotion. Alipay will provide publicity for the event with its extensive marketing network in China. Shoppers who use Alipay as a payment mode when making their purchases will double their chances of winning the S$1 million cash prize or a Volvo S90 luxury sedan.
CAG Senior Vice President for Airside Concessions Teo Chew Hoon said: “Changi Airport provides a myriad of customised services for our Chinese travellers – including our Mandarin-speaking shopping concierge services and Chinese version of the airport’s online shopping portal, iShopChangi. The Alipay mobile platform provides a brand new payment option to further enhance our Chinese travellers’ shopping experience here at Changi, while also providing personalised information and offers for their enjoyment. Looking ahead, we will continue to work with our partners to explore other ways to provide an exceptional ‘Changi Experience’ for our passengers.”
Douglas Feagin, Head of Alipay International, added: “We are so happy to be working with Changi Airport and its various merchants, connecting them with Chinese travellers and helping them better target their Chinese customers via big-data-based marketing capabilities. Users at different locations and with different user profiles will receive targeted marketing content.”
Alipay will also be made available as a mode of payment at Changi Airport Terminal 4 when it begins operations from 31 October.
