NEWS
China outbound and inbound tourism spending rebounds on Ant Group ' s cross-border merchant networks during Chinese New Year break
Data from Ant Group shows a robust rebound of consumer spending during the first back-to-normal Chinese New Year ( CNY ) travel season after the COVID-19 pandemic , especially in cross-border tourism .
Through the Alipay + cross-border mobile payment technology solutions , Chinese travelers may pay for goods , food and beverage , recreation and entertainment at over 8 million merchants in over 70 countries and regions , all from their familiar home app Alipay , with no need to change money or carry cash . Alipay also offers in-app instant tax refunds , as well as transparent and competitive exchange rates .
“ With its use spreading across age and income groups , mobile payment is becoming an increasingly important promoter of local
and cross-border commerce in Asia and beyond , “ said Douglas Feagin , Senior Vice President of Ant Group and Head of Alipay +. “ We expect to grow our partnerships with the payment industry leaders , national tourist agencies and merchants in 2024 to generate more growth .”
Klarna , the AI-powered global payments provider and shopping assistant , has revealed UK consumers paid off 97.4 % of Black Friday orders on time or early , an increase of 2 % compared with last year . The data comes as Bank of England boss Andrew Bailey declared yesterday that the UK ’ s recession may already be over .
Over half ( 51 %) of purchases were paid off early , ahead of their due date . In stark contrast , a third of consumers in the UK did not think they would be able to pay off their Christmas credit card bill in full , at a time when credit card interest rates are at their highest in 27 years according to Bank of England data , while banks continue to report their biggest annual profits since the 2007 financial crisis .
In 2023 , Klarna processed a record number of Black Friday orders , as consumers shun predatory credit cards in favor of interest-free BNPL options . Klarna continues to grow , with over 18 million UK customers and its fastest-growing age group being the over- 60s , showing that all generations see the benefits of BNPL as a healthier credit option to credit cards .
Buy now , pay early : 97.4 % of Klarna Black Friday purchases paid off on time or early
BNPL are 13.4 % less likely to be over-indebted or behind on all credit payments than people who don ' t use BNPL .
“ Our BNPL products offer a fairer alternative to predatory credit cards , with short-term payment cycles and no ability to revolve . It ’ s not in our interest to lend to those who can ’ t afford to repay , which is why we make a new lending decision on each and every transaction , and restrict the use of our products if repayments are missed . By publishing this data , we hope to show that our consumers are smart and responsible shoppers ,” said Raji Behal , Head of Western and Southern Europe at Klarna .
The data rebuts numerous warnings from media and campaign groups around the dangers of BNPL and correlates with a recent report published by Experian . Unlike most reports on BNPL , Experian ’ s is based on real-world transactional data . The report found that those who use
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