Euronet Worldwide business segment epay drives European rollout of new Alipay payment solution with launch at drugstore chain Müller

LEAWOOD, Kan., April 07, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- epay, a business segment of Euronet Worldwide, Inc. (NASDAQ: EEFT), has integrated Alipay+, a suite of global cross-border mobile payments and marketing solutions from Ant Group that enables merchants to better serve consumers from all over the world, to support in-store cross-border mobile payments via QR and bar codes at the Müller drugstore chain in Europe.

With the help of Alipay+, epay’s cash register integration solution includes access to a network of Asia’s leading digital wallets through a single connection and connects the Müller drug stores with more than one billion Alipay+ users in the Asia Pacific region. The epay solution also provides Müller with access to other popular payment methods and epay’s digital value-added services.

Alipay+ integration offers significant potential for retailers

With innovative technologies and solutions, Alipay+ brings an easy way to capture digital-first customers and makes it easier and more convenient for merchants to serve users of Asia's leading digital payment service providers. Especially, with the one-stop integration feature provided by Alipay+, payment services and merchants can access all existing and later-onboarded digital payment methods brought by the solution through a unified interface and standardized business rules, and without additional technical adaption.

As retailers support payments through Alipay+, epay makes it more convenient for merchants to address the users of Asia’s leading digital wallets such as KakaoPay, PayPay and Gcash. At Müller, epay launched with KakaoPay through Alipay+ first and will follow with the other supported wallets. The process at Müller already started in Germany and Austria will be expanded to additional European countries and retailers in the coming months. epay will also bring Alipay+ payment services to its e-commerce solution via web and in-app connections.

"We’re happy to welcome Müller as the first retail chain in the German-speaking market to offer the Alipay+ in-store solution, which helps Müller to even better address international customers by offering them their preferred payment method,” said John Cai, Business Development Manager for Alipay in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. “Together with our partner epay, we can offer precisely the efficiency and convenience for retailers and consumers through our innovations on digital technologies.”

Payment diversity and process efficiency for retailers

Retailers who have implemented epay’s cash register integration can add various payment methods at the point-of-sale from other contactless or contact-based card payments, QR and mobile payments, and value-added digital services such as gift cards and prepaid cards through the existing, dynamic connection. This lets the retailer respond to constantly changing consumer needs and increase payment diversity without any significant additional expenditure.

“Retailers are confronted with requests for a wide range of payment methods at the point of sale as a result of an increasingly international customer base,” said Dr. Markus Landrock, Managing Director of epay DACH Global Issuing Payments & Rewards. “epay covers the entire mobile payment infrastructure with just a single dynamic interface. This means payment methods can be easily integrated or replaced. And of course, there’s also only one contract, one bill, and the highest security standards. This is a major benefit in process efficiency for retailers. To achieve this, we work with strong partners such as Alipay, with whom we have a long-standing and trusting partnership, including the first Alipay implementation for Müller in 2018.”

How it works: Alipay+ payment accepted at point of sale in seconds

If customers from Asia want to pay at a participating retailer with Alipay+, they open the Alipay+ dedicated QR code in their usual digital wallet on their smartphone and present it for scanning. The cashier scans the code and the amount to be paid is displayed directly in the app. The customer then confirms the payment on their smartphone. The customer and the cashier immediately receive confirmation of the transaction.

Customer satisfaction is Müller’s top priority, accordingly to the company. Part of this is determined by whether the customer can use the payment method that’s most convenient for them at the store. The Alipay+ implementation by epay allows the acceptance of numerous new payment methods, making paying even more convenient for existing and new customers alike. That’s why Alipay+ is an important building block in the payment mix.

More details about Alipay+: https://www.alipayplus.com/ and the implementation via epay https://epay.de/alipay/

About Alipay+

Alipay+ provides global cross-border mobile payments and marketing solutions that enable merchants, especially small and medium-sized businesses, to better serve consumers around the world by collaborating with global partners.

Alipay+ is introduced by Ant Group, the owner and operator of Alipay. One of the world’s leading digital payment platforms, Alipay serves hundreds of millions of users by connecting them with merchants and partner financial institutions that offer inclusive financial services and digital daily life services.

About epay

epay is a world-leading full-service payment provider for payment processing and prepaid solutions that processed 3.12 billion transactions in 2021. The company has built up an extensive network of retailers with 775,000 point-of-sale terminals in 62 countries, to connect renowned brands with consumers all around the world. The company offers a portfolio of gift cards (prepaid, closed loop and digital media), business incentives and payment solutions (card acceptance, terminals, e-commerce, mobile and Internet of Payment) for omnichannel commerce, and offers its services thanks to its proprietary cash register integration software. epay is a segment of Euronet Worldwide, Inc. (NASDAQ: EEFT), a Kansas-based company which earned $2.9 billion in revenue in 2021, employing a staff of over 8,000 employees and serving customers in 175 countries.

About Euronet Worldwide

Euronet Worldwide is a leading global financial technology solutions and payments provider. The Company offers payment and transaction processing solutions to financial institutions, retailers, service providers and individual consumers. These services include comprehensive ATM, POS and card outsourcing services, card issuing and merchant acquiring services, software solutions, cash-based and online-initiated consumer-to-consumer and business-to-business money transfer services, and electronic distribution of digital media and prepaid mobile phone time.

Euronet's global payment network is extensive - including 48,619 ATMs, approximately 343,000 EFT POS terminals and a growing portfolio of outsourced debit and credit card services which are under management in 62 countries; card software solutions; a prepaid processing network of approximately 775,000 POS terminals at approximately 335,000 retailer locations in 62 countries; and a global money transfer network of approximately 510,000 locations serving 165 countries. With corporate headquarters in Leawood, Kansas, USA, and 66 worldwide offices, Euronet serves clients in approximately 175 countries. For more information, please visit the Company's website at www.euronetworldwide.com.

Press contact

Euronet Worldwide Inc.:
Stephanie Taylor
Director of Financial Planning and Investor Relations Euronet Worldwide, Inc.
+1-913-327-4200
staylor@euronetworldwide.com

Alipay:
Schwartz Public Relations
Verena Pretzsch / Kathrin Pfennig
Sendlinger Straße 42A
D-80331 München
Tel: +49 (0)89 211 871 -51 / -39
Email: alipay@schwartzpr.de
Web: www.schwartzpr.de

epay:
Jana Weisshaupt
PR & Communications
epay - transact Elektronische Zahlungssysteme GmbH
Fraunhoferstr. 10
D-82152 Martinsried
+49 89 899643-499
j.weisshaupt@epay.de