Alipay is an eWallet app and the most widely used mobile payment service in China, with more than 700 million users. A user’s phone number is connected to their bank account, allowing them to make payments online and at retail stores, to send money to friends and family, to withdraw money from ATMs, and to make other common credit transactions.

Alipay is accepted throughout China and at more than 35 million merchants around the world, including McDonalds, Starbucks, and Apple stores. It charges merchants 2%, and consumers 0.2%, of each transaction on websites or apps. Originally written in traditional and simplified Chinese, it has recently added English, making it more accessible globally.

Alipay was developed by Alibaba Group for their e-commerce platforms. It was launched in 2004 and has since become the most popular third-party payment platform for Chinese people to pay for goods and services online. It also provides escrow services for merchants who accept payments through Alipay by holding onto customer funds until after delivery of goods or services has been completed.

Alipay works through a mobile app that can be downloaded onto any Android or Apple phone. Once consumers have installed the app, they simply need to register an account with Alibaba Group (this only takes a few minutes) before making purchases online.