MANILA, Philippines--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) recently sealed a pioneering partnership with Alipay+, a suite of global cross-border mobile payments and marketing solutions operated by Ant Group, to enable digital banking customers to shop global. This makes BPI the first bank partnering Alipay+ as a mobile payment provider to extend its payments service beyond local merchants.
Through this collaboration, BPI is now available as a payment option at regional and global online merchants supported by Alipay+, while users of BPI can make payments in these merchants with their preferred and familiar payment method.
“The pandemic has rapidly accelerated the shift of payment behavior and preference of Filipinos from cash to digital. We aim to better serve and engage the now digitally savvy customers, by continuously innovating and expanding our digital ecosystem of partners and merchants, for an enhanced digital experience that goes beyond banking,” said Noel Santiago, Chief Digital Officer at BPI.
“Amidst our consistent push to adopt new technologies, 91% of our transactions are now digital, up from 85% prior to the pandemic. Our digital customer base has also grown to 4.9 million in 2021 with a 20% increase in active users compared to the previous year. With the use of BPI Online credentials, the partnership with Alipay+ will bring a convenient and seamless payment experience to BPI customers and connect them to regional and global brands.”
With innovative technologies and products, Alipay+ has seen strong adoptions since its launch in 2020 among regional and global online merchants across e-commerce, digital entertainment and O2O, including leading brands such as Agoda, Apple, Foodpanda, Google, and SHEIN. More than 1 million offline merchants in major European and Asian markets have also partnered with Alipay+ since.
“Digital payment is not only about mobile wallets, but also includes banking apps and other digitalized payment methods. Alipay+ is working closely with digital payment providers such as BPI to alleviate cross-border payments pain points for consumers,” said CHENG Guoming, General Manager of Alipay+ Global Payment Partnership, Ant Group. “BPI is one of the largest and most trusted banks in the Philippines with a loyal customer base. We are excited to partner with BPI to make regional and global brands more accessible to local consumers and to enhance their lifestyle.”
ABOUT BPI
The 170-year-old Bank of the Philippine Islands is the first bank in the Philippines and Southeast Asia. We are licensed as a universal bank by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas to provide a diverse range of financial services: deposit taking and cash management, payments, lending and leasing, asset management, bancassurance, investment banking, securities brokerage, and foreign exchange and capital markets. BPI has significant financial strength, with robust Tier 1 capital adequacy ratios and profitability, underpinned by a stringent compliance and risk management regimes.
E-mail:
Media: mjsilvestre@bpi.com.ph
Investors: Investorrelations@bpi.com.ph
Bank of the Philippine Islands l Ayala North Exchange Tower 1, Ayala Avenue corner Salcedo St., Legaspi Village, Makati City 1229 PH l +632 8246 6364l www.bpi.com.ph
About Alipay+
Alipay+ provides global cross-border mobile payments and marketing solutions that connect merchant partners, especially small and medium-sized businesses, with mobile payments and other payment methods, for them to better serve their users and customers from all over the world. Alipay+ is introduced by Ant Group, the owner and operator of Alipay, one of the world’s leading digital payment platforms.