(Chinese Version)

　　Has everything been going smoothly for Chinese mobile payment giants eyeing overseas markets?

　　“For sure, what’s called ‘convenience’ by American users can be revolutionary for people in developing countries,” Eric M. Jackson, former vice president of marketing at PayPal, said in his well-know book The PayPal Wars: Battles with eBay, the Media, the Mafia, and the Rest of Planet Earth.

　　However, he would never have expected that Chinese tourists would often complain that they couldn’t buy a loaf of bread at American airports without cash, while they could pay bills with their smartphone almost everywhere, even at snack stands on Hangzhou streets.

　　Indeed, China has led the world in terms of mobile payment penetration rate.

　　According to Alipay’s national bill survey, mobile payment accounted for 71 per cent of the total in 2016, while this figure reached as high as 92 per cent among people born after the 1990s.

　　“The American mobile payment market is dwarfed by the giant Chinese one,” Financial Times commented.According to iResearch and ForresterResearch’s estimate, the total volume of the Chinese mobile payment is fifty times bigger than the American one.

　　At the same time, Chinese mobile payment giants, represented by Alipay, have been actively going abroad and even planning to enter the US market.

　　False alarm

　　Acquisition of MoneyGram is a vital step in Alibaba Group Ant Financial’s expansion overseas. This January, Ant Financial was reported to acquire MoneyGram with $880 million ($13.25 per share), which aroused widespread attention and discussion.

　　MoneyGram is the second largest provider of money transfers in the world, second only to Western Union. The company operates in more than 200 countries with a global network of about 347,000 agent offices

　　This January, Alibaba founder Jack Ma met with Donald Trump and pledged to help one million American small and mid-sized companies to sell products to Asian consumers through the company's e-commerce platform. By acquiring MoneyGram, Alibaba would have linked one million American small-sized local service stores with Chinese consumers.

　　However, it was reported on March 15th that American electronic payments provider Euronet Worldwide also intended to acquire MoneyGram with a valuation of $1 billion ($15.20 per share).

　　Obvisouly, Euronet Worldwide’s offer is more tempting and it would be a lot easier to get permission from American authorities if MoneyGram opts for Euronet Worldwide.

　　A day later, MoneyGram issued a statement, saying that its contract with Ant Financial remains valid and that MoneyGram’s board of directors will stick to the agreement with Ant Financial.

　　It turned out to be false alarm.

　　Ant Financial currently targets mainly Chinese tourists travelling abroad in its overseas expansion plans

　　Still, MoneyGram is only a tip of iceberg in Ant Financial’s overseas expansion.

　　From Norwegian city Langyer to Argentina city Ushuaia, Alipay has become available in more than 200 countries and regions around the world. With over 40 million overseas users, Alipay already supports payment in eighteen currencies, including US dollar, Hong Kong dollar, pound, euro, yen, etc. Up till now, Ant Financial has set up branches in six countries, including the U.S., Singapore, South Korea, Britain, Luxembourg and Australia.

　　Although Ant Financial often have new moves, it has been quite cautious in every step:its output is often technology-centered and light-asset, and it seldom attempted to become the biggest shareholder. After all, government surveillance in the finance industry is strict in any country.

　　Currently, Ant Financial mainly target Chinese users travelling abroad. Last July, Alipay launched “Alipay+” plan and vowed to recruit global partners and open access to its technology and resources in an attempt to establish a mobile payment ecosystem in major airports, supermarkets and restaurant centers around the world. The project also mainly targeted Chinese tourists travelling abroad.

　　It is worth noticing that Ant Financial’s cooperation with Paytm is an exception, since Indians consumers are their target. Therefore, can Ant Financial really rise into a super mobile payment platform serving users around the world in the long run?

　　Chinese mobile payment giants rise by standing on giants’ shoulders

　　If we look back, we may find that the rapid rise of the Chinese mobile payment market has to do with various factors.

　　“Above all, there are historical factors. Third-party payment guarantee transaction function played a vital role in the early development of e-commerce business. With the development of e-commerce business, third-party payment is further popularized; secondly, there are social and technological factors. The spread of smartphones and the rapid development of the mobile internet led the transfer of the entire business to the mobile end; thirdly, more importantly, third-party payment platforms, especially the two mobile payment giants Alipay and WeChat Wallet successfully completed the user education based on high-frequency offline consumer scenarios along with the rise of O2O. Supplemented by their existing complete systems in the social and financial areas, they have introduced several popular new functions and services, including red envelopes, Yu’ebao, etc. All these actions help cultivate users’ habits,” Wang Pengbo, a researcher at Analysys International, explained.

　　Moreover, the prosperity of mobile payment also has to do with the special policy environment and financial system in China. To be more specific: