Alipay Thailand expects mobile payments made by Chinese travellers in Thailand to surge this year thanks to China's reopening.
During Chinese New Year between Jan 21-27, Alipay mobile app payment volumes grew by 150% year-on-year globally, while Thailand recorded the highest transaction volume among Southeast Asian countries.
Chinese visitors stayed in the country for an average of 4.18 days during the festival and spent an average of 20,000 baht per person per trip, said Sittipong Kittiprapapong, Thailand Ant Group's general manager for global merchant partnership.
Alipay, operated by Ant Group, offers the world's largest mobile payment and lifestyle platform.
Mr Sittipong said cross-border travel by Chinese tourists is expected to increase significantly after China's reopening last month, and Thailand is a key destination for them. Thailand currently ranks No.1 in Asean in terms of both travel destinations and payment volume via Alipay.
Since China's reopening, visits to Thailand have been composed largely of millennials and members of Gen Z, with ages between 25-40. Most of them were digital-savvy individual travellers with high purchasing power.
The Alipay payment categories of Chinese tourists included consumer goods covering dining, food, and beverages. They spent at restaurants, malls, supermarkets, convenience stores, and on food deliveries. Luxury brand products, hospitality, medical and healthcare, and beauty were additional key payment categories.
There are five more key Chinese festivals for the rest of this year, which are expected to stimulate travel to Thailand. As a result, Chinese spending in Thailand via Alipay could be over 20,000 baht per head per trip in 2023, Mr Sittipong said.
"Thailand is a high potential growth market of Alipay, and we've set a higher marketing budget to attract Chinese spending in Thailand this year. The partnership model is another key strategy to expand business in the Thai market," Mr Sittipong said.
In a related development, Alipay Thailand has partnered with the SET-listed Krungthai Card (KTC), a non-bank company under Krungthai Bank, since 2015. The tie-up has extended to marketing campaigns, a merchant partnership, and payment services in the Thai market.
KTC has 5,440 merchants across the country accepting Alipay payments, and merchant partners and spending are expected to rise in line with more Chinese tourists coming to Thailand, said Naowarat Keratikasemsook, KTC's head of merchant acquiring business.
Overall, KTC has around 50,000 merchant partners, with a target to increase that by 10,000 this year. The firm also aims to grow payment volumes at merchant partners to 100 billion baht in 2023, a 20% rise from a year before.