You have to respect Alibaba and their Alipay service. The latest enhancement called Epass is a full-service system to enable cross border commerce. Now Chinese consumers can pay for US brands using their existing Alipay accounts and everything is taken care of ensuring proper brand goods delivered in a predictable manner.
Pass users will see an EPass payment option when they check out on a retailer’s site. Chinese shoppers pay in yuan using their Alipay account and Alipay transmits the payment to merchants in 14 currencies via 180 international financial institutions. Customs duties are calculated at checkout.
Alibaba started Alipay in 2004 to facilitate payments on its websites and spun off the unit in 2011 into a company controlled by Alibaba Chief Executive Jack Ma. Because it was spun off, Alipay was not part of Alibaba’s mammoth $25-billion initial public offering of stock in September, the largest ever.
Alipay says EPass can provide retailers with payment-processing services, as well as shipping logistics and marketing services as needed. Alipay will take a cut of each transaction but did not specify how much the percentage is.
via LA Times