Alipay Set for IPO after Alibaba Brought in a Record $9.3 Billion in 24 Hours on Singles Day

Alipay "will definitely go public," according to Alibaba's Executive Chairman, Jack Ma, who said yesterday he hoped his group's finance services arm will have a chance to be listed on a Chinese stock exchange.

Mr. Ma, who was recently proclaimed as the richest man in China following Alibaba's record setting IPO in the US, made the statement in a TV interview with the state-owned CCTV channel marking Singles Day. Taking place every 11th of November (11/11), it's a made up holiday celebrating Chinese bachelors, invented by Ma a few years ago to copy the American Cyber Monday after Black Friday.

Alibaba reported a whopping $9.3 billion dollars in sales during the whole day yesterday (Singles Day 2014) in China alone, smashing its previous busiest shopping day of the year record. According to official data from Alibaba, around 278.5 million items were ordered yesterday on its platforms, seven times more than what Amazon sold on Cyber Monday in 2013. 42.6% of all Alibaba purchases on Tuesday were completed on mobile devices.

Alipay - 2.85 Million Transactions Per Minute

Alipay sits at the heart of Alibaba's e-commerce empire as China's leading online payment provider. Known by some as the Chinese answer to PayPal, the service settled 4.825 trillion yuan ($788 billion) in transactions in the twelve months ended June 30, 2014. At the peak of Singles Day 2014, 2.85 million transactions per minute were processed by Alipay.

Alipay was launched in 2004 as a payment provider for Alibaba's retail patforms, but since then has separated from its parent company and is now a standalone service owned by the tech giant. Alipay provides an escrow service, in which consumers can verify whether they are happy with their purchased goods before releasing money to the seller. This service was tailored to meet the needs of China’s weak consumer protection laws, which had previously reduced consumer confidence in online trade.

Alipay can be used to make online Payments Payments One of the bases of mediums of exchange in the modern world, a payment constitutes the transfer of a legal currency or equivalent from one party in exchange for goods or services to another entity. The payments industry has become a fixture of modern commerce, though the players involved and means of exchange have dramatically shifted over time.In particular, a party making a payment is referred to as a payer, with the payee reflecting the individual or entity receiving the payment. Most commonl One of the bases of mediums of exchange in the modern world, a payment constitutes the transfer of a legal currency or equivalent from one party in exchange for goods or services to another entity. The payments industry has become a fixture of modern commerce, though the players involved and means of exchange have dramatically shifted over time.In particular, a party making a payment is referred to as a payer, with the payee reflecting the individual or entity receiving the payment. Most commonl Read this Term, mobile-based transactions, vending machine purchases, paying for taxi cab fare, and much more, as it provides payment services for more than 460,000 Chinese businesses. The service even offers a new online private bank that was approved by the Chinese government in September. With well over 300 million users and a market share of 48.7% of China’s online payment space, accepting Alipay is not merely a suggestion when operating in the Chinese market, it’s a must.

Emerging Markets' Payment Solutions

In addition to China, other parts of the developing world are also drawing more attention from multinational firms, as emerging markets represent key engines for the global growth. This is clearly evident in the online Forex Forex Foreign exchange or forex is the act of converting one nation’s currency into another nation’s currency (that possesses a different currency); for example, the converting of British Pounds into US Dollars, and vice versa. The exchange of currencies can be done over a physical counter, such as at a Bureau de Change, or over the internet via broker platforms, where currency speculation takes place, known as forex trading.The foreign exchange market, by its very nature, is the world’s largest tradi Foreign exchange or forex is the act of converting one nation’s currency into another nation’s currency (that possesses a different currency); for example, the converting of British Pounds into US Dollars, and vice versa. The exchange of currencies can be done over a physical counter, such as at a Bureau de Change, or over the internet via broker platforms, where currency speculation takes place, known as forex trading.The foreign exchange market, by its very nature, is the world’s largest tradi Read this Term industry which is focusing more and more on Asia, Africa and other growing markets.

Much like Alipay in China, all these markets have their own unique payment methods and mastering them is vital for success for companies coming from abroad.

In our latest Forex Magnates’ Q3 2014 Quarterly Industry Report, we showcased the payment solutions taking over the emerging market in an article called: "Get Paid in BRICS." To provide brokers and service providers an insight into operations in non-Western markets, we featured payment solutions in Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, together constitututing over 40% of the world’s population.