Finland notches up an Alipay first

Finland has become the first country to offer Chinese tourists a fully cashless experience during their visit by adopting the Alipay mobile payments platform.

“The cashless experience is already ubiquitous in China,” says Sikander Hauser, Alipay’s Head of Strategic Development in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA). “What we’re now looking at is bringing that abroad to Europe and other regions, so Chinese consumers can travel with just their mobile phone, just as they do at home in China.”

To show how it works, last month Alipay took eight users of the service to Helsinki and Rovaniemi in the Arctic Circle for six days of sightseeing, shopping and dining. Throughout their trip, they used the app for everything from food and taxi rides to flights and duty refunds at the airport. Further details here.