Older Chinese tourists catching up to millennials in use of mobile payments

Alipay is releasing preliminary findings of Chinese consumers’ mobile payment behavior while traveling overseas during last week’s Lunar New Year celebration. The data comes from the more than 40 markets where Alipay is accepted.

One of the most notable findings – middle-aged travelers are catching up to millennials in their use of mobile payments. And the fastest growth is coming from the segment of travelers born between 1960 and 1969.

The number of Alipay users from that group increased 230% compared to 2018’s new year week, and total consumption by this age group increased 250% year-over-year.

Alipay’s analysis of the next cohort of travelers, those born between 1970 and 1979, found they also dramatically increased their use of the mobile payment system.

The number of users in that age range increased 190% year-over-year and total consumption jumped 232%.

Chinese outbound tourism is also expanding beyond the top-tier cities such as Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou.

The analysis found travelers from third- and fourth-tier cities made more purchases through Alipay than those from the more developed markets.

“We are excited to see the robust growth in the use of Alipay by overseas travelers from third-and-fourth tier cities and middle-aged vacationers. This really highlights how mobile payment is taking root in China’s outbound tourism market,” says Janice Chen, head of business operation, cross-border business, Alipay.

“While providing a better experience for Chinese travelers, Alipay is at the same time a huge drawcard for overseas merchants as a platform to help grow their business.”

The findings corroborate data from a recent report from Alipay and Nielsen, 2018 Trends for Mobile Payments in Chinese Outbound Tourism.

That report found that while the percentage of millennial outbound travelers using Alipay has remained steady from 2017 to 2018 at 69%, the percentage of travelers born between 1960 and 1979 using it jumped from 55% in 2017 to 68% in 2018.

Alipay, created by Alibaba Group and operated by Ant Financial, says it has more than one billion annual active users globally.