Monday, April 12, 2010

AliPay Receives $732 Million Investment from Alibaba Group



Alipay Receives RMB5 Billion Investment from Alibaba Group

Investment to Target Infrastructure Security; Product Development; Customer Accounts and Merchant Network Growth; and Talent Development
HANGZHOU, China--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Alipay, China’s largest online payment network, has announced that Alibaba Group will invest a total of RMB5 billion (US$732 million1) over the next five years to upgrade the payment solution for e-commerce in China and around the world.
“Online payment will continue to play an ever-growing and significant role in the development of e-commerce as well as the stimulation of consumer demand”
“Online payment will continue to play an ever-growing and significant role in the development of e-commerce as well as the stimulation of consumer demand,” said Lucy Peng, CEO of Alipay & CPO of Alibaba Group. “Consumers expect a safe, convenient and affordable globalized payment platform. That’s what we have offered since the creation of Alipay and with this investment we aim to continue playing a fundamental role in the ongoing development of e-commerce in China and around the world.”
The new investment of RMB5 billion will be used to enhance infrastructure security; develop products to improve ease of use and convenience for customers; continue to grow a massive number of consumer accounts; build a comprehensive network of merchants; and retain and attract top-tier talent from the payments industry.
“A truly first-rate payment infrastructure must be one that offers unquestionable security and an excellent user experience. It must be universally accepted by consumers and merchants. Only a platform with these qualities will be able to meet the growing demands of the hundreds of millions of consumers embracing retail e-commerce,” said Peng.
With this investment, Alipay will be able to attract and train a larger pool of talented professionals from the payments industry who will build a truly globalized and sophisticated e-commerce payment infrastructure. Alipay will also commit additional resources into online safety and security, risk and data management, as well as innovate in new technology areas such as mobile payments.
About Alipay
Alipay is China's leading online payment solution, enabling individuals and businesses to execute payments online in an easy, safe and secure manner. Alipay had a registered user base of over 300 million as of March 2010. Alipay partners with banks to provide an escrow service for payments, which reduces the settlement risks faced by Alipay's customers in their e-commerce transactions. Alipay, headquartered in Hangzhou, was founded by Alibaba Group in 2004.
About Alibaba Group
Alibaba Group is a global e-commerce leader and the largest e-commerce company in China. Since it was founded in 1999, Alibaba Group has grown to include the following core businesses: Alibaba.com (HKSE:1688.HK), Alibaba Group's flagship company and the world's leading B2B e-commerce company; Taobao, China's largest Internet retail Web site and a one-stop platform for shopping, socializing and information sharing; Alipay, China's leading third-party online payment service; Alibaba Cloud Computing, a developer of advanced data-centric cloud computing services; and China Yahoo!, one of China's leading Internet portals.
1 US$1 = RMB 6.83

Contacts

Alibaba Group

John W. Spelich, +852 2215 5129

johnspelich@hk.alibaba-inc.com

Justine Chao, +852 2215 5229

justinechao@hk.alibaba-inc.com
Permalink: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20100411005083/en/Alipay-Receives-RMB5-Billion-Investment-Alibaba-Group


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