NEW YORK and LAS VEGAS – Verifone (NYSE: PAY), a world leader in payment and commerce solutions, and Alipay, the world’s leading third-party payment platform, announced today the extension of their existing global partnership to Verifone Taxi Solutions. Through the agreement, Chinese consumers travelling in New York and Las Vegas will be able to pay for taxis in the U.S. for the first time using their Alipay Mobile Wallet.
By the end of October, 2,100 taxis in Las Vegas will accept Alipay upon checkout, and an additional 14,000 taxis in New York City are slated to accept Alipay in November this year.
“Paying for taxis can be one of the most stressful elements of travelling abroad, particularly if you don’t speak the language,” said Souheil Badran, President, Alipay North America. “By extending our partnership with Verifone to taxis in New York and Las Vegas, two of the most popular destinations in America for Chinese tourists, we are giving greater confidence to Chinese travellers that they will be able to pay for their taxi ride using the same convenient payment method they use at home, without language barriers.”
Alipay is China's leading online payment provider and the primary means of online and mobile payment for Chinese consumers. As millions of Chinese travellers continue to visit North America, the partnership makes it easy for Chinese shoppers to use their Alipay Mobile Wallet on Verifone devices.
“Chinese visitors to the U.S. are increasing in number every year and we are continuing to elevate the cashless payment experience by making it easy to pay inside American taxi cabs,” said Amos Tamam, Senior Vice President of Global Taxi Systems, Verifone. “Enabling Alipay acceptance is yet another example of leveraging our smart transportation platform to drive utilisation of traditional taxis which offer the safety of licensed and professional drivers along with predictable pricing.”
Verifone and Alipay began partnering in 2016 to enable merchants in Europe and North America to accept Alipay in stores driving brand visibility, traffic and sales through its in-app marketing tool. With Verifone’s mobile point of sale, retailers can accept Alipay anywhere in the store and implement marketing campaigns targeting Chinese consumers who use the Alipay app.