In addition to the industry-leading Alipay e-payments network, an affiliate of the Chinese internet giant Alibaba has announced that it would enable users to pay with the digital yuan on its Taobao e-commerce platform. This news comes after the company made the announcement.
The statement was made, as reported by Sina Technology, by Li Chen, who serves as the Chief Compliance Officer of the Ant Group, which is Alibaba’s finance branch. Ant is the company that runs Alipay as well as Alibaba’s online banking. At a digital commerce summit held in Zhejiang, Li Chen is said to have told delegates the following:
“Alipay has joined the digital yuan acceptance network. It is the first payment platform to support the digital yuan.”
Li Chen added that a digital yuan wallet “fast payment function” had been launched in Taobao – allowing customers to use digital yuan holdings at checkout.
The official added that a slew of digital yuan-related services would be “launched in batches” in the weeks and months ahead.
Because of the new Alipay link, digital yuan holders in the pilot zone will also be able to use their coins to pay for goods and services on Alibaba subsidiaries. These subsidiaries include Tmall-Mart, the “smart” online supermarket owned by the technology giant, the Hema chain of grocery stores, and its Ele.me food delivery network.
The news agency also said that users of the Alipay and Taobao applications could begin using digital CNY pay immediately – all they needed to do was update their respective apps. They will notice prompts that bring them to payment alternatives using their digital yuan wallet while they are checking out.
Officials from Alipay also said that customers may “learn how to utilize” the digital yuan by searching for a new “paying with the digital yuan” area inside the Alipay app.
Why is it Important that Alipay and Taotao Support the Digital Yuan?
Taobao is the equivalent of Amazon in China, and together with JD.com, it is often considered to be the country’s most popular online shopping platform. This latter entity has been quite active in the field of digital CNY and has been a trailblazer in the implementation of a variety of freebies in regions designated as pilot zones.
Alipay and its closest competitor, WeChat Pay, have grabbed around 15% of China’s entire national payments industry and have been the dominant players in the Chinese e-payments sector during the last several years. Tencent, a global leader in information technology, is the innovator behind WeChat Pay.
The government has said on many occasions that the digital yuan would not be positioned as a competitor to either Alipay or WeChat Pay; yet, some people think that Beijing intends to break up the duopoly that the two internet titans now have.
In the beginning of this year, WeChat Pay implemented functionality for interoperability with digital yuan.
Compiled by Coinbold
