Australia's business-only bank, Tyro, announced that it has partnered with Alipay – the world's largest mobile and online payment platform.
Tyro will become the first Australian bank to offer a seamless, all-on-one Eftpos solution with Alipay, to improve Australian retailers' opportunities to access the Chinese tourist market.
To the year ending December 2017, Chinese visitors spent $10.4 billion in Australia and this figure is expected to increase to $13 billion by 2020.
Alipay has over 870 million active users in China and overseas, and is the number one payment method in China.
In Australia and New Zealand, Alipay has partnerships with over 10,000 businesses.
According to Nielsen data, 65 per cent of Chinese tourists use mobile payment platforms during their travels, six times more than non-Chinese tourists.
Additionally, over 90 per cent of Chinese tourists indicated that not only would they would use Alipay abroad if the payment method was more widely accepted, but that they would increase their spending if Alipay was an option.
Tyro CEO, Robbie Cooke, said that the partnership provides an exciting opportunity for Australian retailers.
"This is an exciting initiative for businesses in Australia, especially for those in the retail and hospitality sectors.
"It sees Tyro... [as] the first Australian bank to give its merchants the opportunity to seamlessly integrate with Alipay, enabling them to better serve Chinese tourists and giving customers more choice in how they want to pay."
Alipay ANZ country manager, George Lawson, said that Australian retailers have been asking their banks to integrate Alipay so they can tap into the Chinese visitor market.
"Banks are pivotal to Alipay’s expansion in Australia as it allows us to switch on our technology for thousands of merchants simultaneously through their existing payment terminals.
"Australian businesses have been calling out for their banks to partner with Alipay to improve their exposure to the rapidly expanding Chinese visitor market so it’s pleasing to see Tyro take the lead on this and give their merchants access to new customers and incremental revenue."
Tyro will conduct a trial program and will then offer the service to its larger merchant base in Q2 2019.