Uber has struck a deal with Alipay that will allow Chinese travellers to use the online payments platform to request and pay for rides overseas, as the US ride-hailing company seeks a fresh edge in the highly competitive Chinese market.
The deal will allow Chinese users of Uber to pay in renminbi using Alipay, the online payment service run by Alibaba’s financial affiliate Ant Financial, across the 68 countries in which Uber operates.
As Uber has expanded rapidly, processing payments in each new market has been a challenge. The San Francisco-based company has struck scores of payments deals around the world and introduced cash payments in several cities.