Manila, Philippines — The Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) recently sealed a pioneering partnership with Alipay+, a suite of global cross-border mobile payments and marketing solutions operated by Ant Group, to enable digital banking customers to shop globally. This makes BPI the first bank partnering with Alipay+ as a mobile payment provider to extend its payments service beyond local merchants.
Through this collaboration, BPI is now available as a payment option at regional and global online merchants supported by Alipay+, while users of BPI can make payments in these merchants with their preferred and familiar payment method.
Noel Santiago, chief digital officer of BPI, said, “We aim to better serve and engage the now digitally savvy customers, by continuously innovating and expanding our digital ecosystem of partners and merchants, for an enhanced digital experience that goes beyond banking.”
Santiago adds, “With the use of BPI Online credentials, the partnership with Alipay+ will bring a convenient and seamless payment experience to BPI customers and connect them to regional and global brands.”
According to BPI, their consistent push to adopt new technologies, 91% of their transactions is now digital, up from 85% prior to the pandemic. Their digital customer base has also grown to 4.9 million in 2021 with a 20% increase in active users compared to the previous year.
With innovative technologies and products, Alipay+ has seen strong adoption since its launch in 2020 among regional and global online merchants across e-commerce, digital entertainment and O2O. More than 1 million offline merchants in major European and Asian markets have also partnered with Alipay+ since.
CHENG Guoming, GM of Alipay+ global payment partnership of Ant Group, said, “Digital payment is not only about mobile wallets, but also includes banking apps and other digitalized payment methods. Alipay+ is working closely with digital payment providers such as BPI to alleviate cross-border payment pain points for consumers. BPI is one of the largest and most trusted banks in the Philippines with a loyal customer base. We are excited to partner with BPI to make regional and global brands more accessible to local consumers and to enhance their lifestyle.”
