'Battlefield' for mobile payments is shifting overseas

The competition to capture new users of mobile payment services during the upcoming Spring Festival has intensified among China's Internet companies as Alipay, the e-payment affiliate of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, expanded the battlefield to overseas markets.

Alipay announced on Tuesday that it will offer discounts if up to 50 percent to its overseas mobile payment users during the festival, a seven-day holiday that begins on Feb 18.

The plan to ride China's outbound travel wave is Alipay's latest move against its chief rival, Tencent Holdings Ltd, in the competition to send cash-filled red envelopes online.