Alipay provides a smooth ride for outbound travelers

Alipay, China's largest online payments provider, stepped up its expansion in the overseas travel sector by launching a service on Monday to make it easier for Chinese tourists to use mass transit in three Asian destinations.

The service, named Alipay Overseas Transportation Card, allows users to purchase public transportation passes in Singapore, Thailand and Macao in yuan via Alipay Wallet, Alipay's mobile application with about 180 million active users, before they leave the Chinese mainland.

When travelers arrive at their destination airports, they can collect the transport passes at designated booths by scanning a barcode on their mobile phone. Unused credit on the cards can be refunded to the Alipay accounts when they return the physical cards on the way back.