Alipay, Alibaba Group's third-party online payment platform, told the Global Times Sunday that without its fast-payment system, most domestic online banking payment systems could not have withstood the volume of online sales promotions on Singles' Day (November 11), which witnessed 105.8 million yuan ($17 million) in deals made via Alipay.
During the one-day sales promotions for Singles' Day, 45.8 percent of shoppers on Tmall, Alibaba Group's online shopping site, chose to pay through fast payment, a staff member from Alipay's public relations department told the Global Times Sunday on condition of anonymity.
Since the end of 2010, Alipay has signed contracts with some 150 banks in China and abroad to jointly develop a system enabling online shoppers to pay rapidly via alipay.com after linking their bank accounts to their Alipay accounts, he said.
The fast-payment system is just a supplement, not a threat, to online payment through banks, given that the latter offers people more services like purchasing government bonds online, while the former exists mainly to facilitate online shopping, said Alipay.
Landmark building should respect the public's feeling