Australian challenger bank Tyro ties up with Alipay

The move aims to tap into the Chinese visitor market.

Australian business-only challenger bank Tyro has entered into an agreement with e-payment platform Alipay to enable electronic fund transfer service for its merchants using the e-payment platform and open access to the Chinese tourist market, according to a statement.

Government estimates that nearly 1.4 million Chinese tourists visited Australia in the year ending February 2018 with expectations that tourist spending will hit $9.43b (AU$14b) by 2020.

The bank is currently working with merchants to determine pilot sites for launch by end-2018 which it plans to extend to around 20,000 eligible businesses by Q2 2019.

“This is an exciting initiative for businesses in Australia, especially for those in the retail and hospitality sectors. It sees Tyro continue to challenge the status quo, being 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,” Robbie Cooke, CEO of Tyro said in a statement.