Ingenico Group, an international operator in seamless payment, is transforming how international eCommerce companies operate in China. The company is introducing a suite of payment methods that fully caters to the preferences of local consumers. Ingenico will enable online businesses to gain better access to one of the world’s most significant online markets.
Eighty-two percent of the local Chinese population are unique mobile users. Ingenico has partnered with leading mobile payment platforms, Alipay and WeChat Pay, as well as with local card scheme UnionPay.
Ingenico is one of the very first international payment service providers (PSP) to support all use cases for WeChat Pay. This includes the capability to integrate into WeChat Official Accounts and Mini-Programmes. This is a crucial advantage that allows 1.1 billion WeChat users to complete their purchase without leaving the WeChat environment.
The company also offers an upgraded Alipay integration to its customers, enabling businesses to reach the majority of online consumers in China. This allows them to offer real-time payments, both on desktop and mobile devices. Furthermore, Ingenico supports UnionPay’s (UPI) SecurePay and ExpressPay solutions. These solutions are part of a comprehensive payment solution designed to cater to a range of payment preferences in China. Through Ingenico, merchants can offer Chinese Yuan to consumers via these payment methods critical for conversion and customer experience.
The new mobile China
The new China is a huge opportunity for Western businesses. It is the world’s largest and most dynamic ecommerce market and a pioneering force in digital and mobile culture. In total, it has an internet penetration rate of 57%, representing 25% of internet users worldwide. However, it is a more challenging market to operate in than many others. The unique domestic eCommerce ecosystem often demands specific solutions tailored to local preferences.
According to Gabriel de Montessus, SVP Global Online at Ingenico Group, “We have been active in China for a long-time. This means that we are perfectly positioned to partner with merchants wanting to access the truly local consumer market. Our expertise here, combined with this new set of payment capabilities, will allow international merchants to reach Chinese consumers that were previously difficult to access.
Frost & Sullivan’s China report
In January 2019, Frost & Sullivan published a report highlighting the mobile payments growth opportunities presented in the country. China has a growing middle class with an appetite of all forms of modern technology and gadgets.
On Singles Day 2018, Chinese consumers unleashed their spending power to the tune of $31 billion online. That’s significantly more than Black Friday and Cyber Monday combined. Over 90% of online sales happened on mobile.
Chinese travellers are restless and purchase more than 300,000 airline tickets every day. That’s 40% of all travel bookings in Asia. Each year, they make 150 million overseas trips and spend twice as much while they’re abroad as US travellers. As a result, Frost & Sullivan predict the mobile payments market in China will experience three-fold growth. The number of active mobile payment users is expected to double by 2023.
Enterprise Times: What this means for business
China is one of the world’s largest e-commerce market. It can also be one of the most challenging. The Frost & Sullivan report predicts China will become a major player in the global mobile payment services market. Furthermore, service providers in the country will continue to focus on improving and enhancing security on mobile payment platforms. This, suggests that the Ingenco Group will be in a good position to benefit from China’s mobile market growth.
It will be interesting, to see if any new innovations in mobile technology emerge from China. Furthermore, whether these innovations take root in the more mature markets in Europe and north America.
