Alipay expands payment services in HK

E-commerce giant Alibaba said it will launch on Oct 13 its online payment service in Hong Kong in the local currency.

Douglas Feagin, senior vice-president and head of international business at Ant Financial Services Group, an Alibaba Group Holding Ltd affiliate, said the company is now focused on expanding merchant acceptance of Alibaba's flagship Alipay service in Hong Kong, and aims to sign up 8,000 local merchants before the end of the year.

So far, only mainland tourists are using Alipay when they buy things from Hong Kong. But Feagin said up to 20 percent of Hong Kong consumers are already users of the mainland e-commerce sites.