A partnership between Alipay and Global Blue will enable Chinese people to have taxes reimbursed.
Alipay, China’s leading online payment service provider, and Global Blue, the Swiss-based expert in international shopping and spending, have collaborated to enable Chinese tourists reimburse the VAT paid on goods and services purchased from Global Blue’s retail partners directly into their Alipay accounts.
Beginning July 8, 5000 retailers across France, Germany, Italy, South Korea and the UK will offer this service through Global Blue, including luxury department stores such as Harrods in the UK, KaDeWe in Germany and La Rinascente in Italy. More countries are expected to roll out the service in the coming months.
“Chinese globe shoppers are our biggest spending nationality, spending on average 815 euros per transaction based on their VAT refunds processed with us. With UNTWO estimating the number of Chinese tourists to double to 200 million by 2020, it is essential we continue to anticipate their needs and offer a hassle-free tax refund experience,” said David Baxby, CEO of Global Blue.
“This collaboration offers hundreds of millions of Alipay users a simple and convenient channel to receive their VAT refunds on their purchases made abroad, in addition to the usual refund options of credit card or cash.”
To provide even better service to Chinese travellers, the refund to an Alipay account will be integrated with Global Blue’s existing membership card – Global Blue Card – which eliminates the need to fill out the tax-free form by hand, and offers an exclusive series of merchant promotions and discounts.
Chinese card holders will have the option to update their membership profiles online, to have their Alipay account as their preferred refund channel.
With almost 100,000 Chinese globe shoppers signed up since the membership card’s launch in May 2013, the introduction of Alipay as a refund payment option will help further drive the growth of new members to the Global Blue Card.
In the coming months, both Global Blue and Alipay will be working together to develop and roll out various products and services to the benefit of Chinese globe shoppers and the retailers that serve them.
