Chinese mobile payment platform operated by Ant Financial – Alipay came up with initiatives to support small businesses in Wuhan as the city remerges from the lockdown period due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
These initiatives will later expand coverage to support minor businesses across the country as they tap into the power of digital technologies to transform adversity into opportunities.
This allows orders to be placed straight via the Alipay app for local specialty produce. It also enables users to access livestreams of tourist destinations across the city as it begins to open back up.
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“In every hardship, there lies an opportunity to envision and create a brighter future. We firmly believe that, after the COVID-19 outbreak, service providers who are able to tap into the power of digital technologies will come out the strongest,” said Simon Hu, Chief Executive Officer of Ant Financial.
“We are committed to supporting SMEs and will continue to provide leading digital technology solutions to support the recovery of small businesses and help them prepare for the future.”
The local merchants using this Alipay platform may also apply for loans offered by the “Zero Contact” campaign jointly launched by MYbank, an online bank that is also under Ant Financial with a focus on serving SMEs and having 100 banks in China.
MYbank will postpone interest rates for 360,000 offline micro-merchants in Wuhan for the first month and cut interest rates by 20% for all Hubei merchants outside of the city.
Sources: https://www.pymnts.com/coronavirus/2020/alipay-digital-tools-to-support-wuhan-businesses/https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200407005876/en/https://www.finextra.com/newsarticle/35602/alipay-offers-boost-to-covid-19-hit-wuhan-merchants
