Overseas in-store transactions over Alipay grew fivefold during the Labor Day holiday compared to the previous year, with Hong Kong topping the list of destinations in terms of transaction volumes.
Transaction volumes in Hong Kong grew sevenfold over the previous year, Alipay said.
Asian markets dominated the list of the top destinations by transaction volumes during the year, accounting for nine of the top ten spots. Thailand, South Korea, Japan, and Macau rounded out the top five. This was followed by Taiwan, Australia, Singapore, Malaysia and the US.
But the fastest growth was recorded in Canada (16 times), the Netherlands (12 times) and the Czech Republic (11 times).
Meanwhile average total spend per user increased by 59% over last year to 1,508 yuan ($237), with European destinations accounting for half of the top 10 countries in terms of total per user spend. The highest average was in Spain (7,965 yuan), followed by France and Italy.
Alipay's data also show that just over two thirds of users of Alipay overseas were female, while 85% were born in the 1980s or the 1990s.
Finally, among the 29 countries that support tax refunds via Alipay, South Korea recorded the highest amount in RMB terms, followed by France and Germany.
First published in Computerworld Hong Kong