BNPL operator taps China’s Alipay+ payment solution

FIRST Digital Finance Corp. (FDFC), operator of card-free “buy now, pay later” (BNPL) platform Billease, announced last Wednesday its new partnership with Pudong, Shanghai, China-headquartered Alipay.com Co. Ltd.

“Filipino consumers can now use BNPL and card-free installment option to shop at more global brands online,” FDFC said in a statement. “This is after Billease, one of the country’s consumer finance apps, welcomed 2023 with a landmark partnership with Alipay+, a global cross-border digital payment and marketing solution.”

According to the fintech, Alipay+ provides global cross-border mobile payment solutions that enable merchants, including small-scale and medium-sized businesses, to better serve mobile-savvy consumers. To date, Alipay+ has reached over 2.5 million global online and off line merchants and helped them to unlock the consumption potential of over one billion e-wallet users. Alipay+’s online merchant network includes regional and global digital entertainment providers, lifestyle services and e-commerce platforms.

Since its launch in 2017, Billease has now over 2,000 merchant partners. Merchant partners of Billease can offer shoppers three card-free installment options at checkout. Aside from shopping, the Billease app can be used for e-wallet top-ups, gaming credits, mobile load purchases and bills payment.

Billease is the first Philippinebased BNPL provider to partner with Alipay+. Through the collaboration, Billease and Alipay+ aim to revolutionize the digital payment landscape through Billease’s consumer credit solutions, according to FDFC.

“Filipino shoppers with Billease app can now leverage Alipay+ to complete online purchases at global merchants and pay in light and card-free installments via Billease.”

Jia Hang, General Manager of Alipay+ Global Partnerships, was quoted in a statement as saying that “Billease brings inclusive financial services to the underbanked and underserved consumers in the Philippines.”

“We look forward to working closely with Alipay+ to help Billease expand its global online merchant coverage,” FDFC CEO Georg Steiger was quoted in the statement as saying. “This partnership is also a major boost for financial inclusion in the Philippines as it will make not only financial services more accessible to millions of Filipinos but also global online merchants reaching wider and more diverse customers like ours.”

Like in other Southeast Asian countries, an increasing number of consumers in the Philippines has turned to digital payment methods during the pandemic, which resulted in the increasing adoption of BNPL.