eurotrade, which is a subsidiary of Munich Airport GmbH, is a professional retailer specialising in the operation of airport shops and cooperates with many international brands that have shops at the airport. From mid-July 2016, the affiliated shops will be offering an expanded range of payment methods: Chinese tourists will be able to conveniently pay for any shopping at participating retailers in the arrivals and departures areas of Munich Airport via their mobile Alipay App. To this end, Wirecard has integrated Alipay Barcode Payment into eurotrade’s central till system.

The Alipay mobile payment by barcode will be possible in all 69 eurotrade shops, at around 160 tills in total, both in the public area and the transfer zones. The technical integration at the POS has been carried out so as to facilitate further developments in the field of alternative payment procedures.

Sven Zahn, Managing Director of eurotrade Flughafen München Handels-GmbH: “Passengers from China are an important target group for retail at Munich Airport. We are delighted to soon be able to offer these visitors who have extremely high purchasing power the Chinese payment method Alipay in all our shops, which means currency exchange will no longer be required. With Wirecard, we have found a local, reliable partner who is providing comprehensive support as we introduce this solution.”

Markus Eichinger, Head of Mobile Services at Wirecard: “Our ConnectedPOS platform enables us to quickly and easily implement acceptance for Alipay payments in eurotrade’s central till system. The company is an important strategic partner for Wirecard because POS developments are only in their infancy in Europe. However, Alipay is a prime example of how quickly such solutions can become established on the market.”

Rita Liu, Head of Europe at Alipay, adds: “It means a great added value for our customers that they can pay with their domestic payment method Alipay, now. Munich and the surrounding area is one of the most popular destinations of Chinese tourists. Through our marketing platform ‘Global Lifestyle Platform’ we will be able to provide useful information including offers, ratings and reviews to our Chinese users even before they arrive in Munich. We are sure that the new Alipay offerings of payment and marketing at all stores of Munich Airport, will be gratefully accepted by them.”

Here is how Alipay Barcode Payment works in retail: A customer wishing to make a contactless payment via their Alipay App simply shows the retailer the barcode on their smartphone screen. The retailer then scans this barcode with their scanner and immediately launches the payment process. Behind the scenes, Wirecard initiates the payment. The customer confirms the purchase by entering their password and subsequently also receives a paper payment receipt. As the acquiring bank, Wirecard bundles all transactions for the respective retailer and processes these together via the collecting model.