Uber just made it a lot easier for Chinese travelers to hail a ride

Image credit: Chinese Tourists.

Uber and Alibaba’s spin-off mobile payments service today announced the launch of a joint program to allow Chinese ride-hailers to use Alipay to pay for their trips anywhere in the world.

The first inklings of this deal came in February, when the companies announced that mainland Chinese users would be able to use their Alipay accounts to pay for rides in Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan. Today’s news expands that scope to include all of the 400-plus cities where Uber operates around the world.

Alipay is run by Ant Financial, which is a partially-owned subsidiary of Alibaba. It is China’s biggest payments app with over 450 million active users, and just secured an utterly massive US$4.5 billion series B round.

This includes all of the 400-plus cities where Uber operates around the world.

Prior to this deal, Chinese citizens would need to use an overseas-issued credit card to pay for Uber rides abroad – or pay with foreign currency where Uber drivers accept cash, such as in India.

The integration is two-fold. Alipay is already integrated into the Uber app, and can be used just as Chinese users normally do; also, when out of the country, users will now see an Uber ride-hailing button within their Alipay apps.

The long war

Uber and Ant Financial’s deal is part of a global war between Uber and its principle Chinese rival, Didi Kuaidi (where Ant Financial backer Alibaba is an investor). The two companies are not only duking it out in mainland China and allying with local partners in other countries, but they also have their sights set on Chinese travelers abroad.

Didi recently announced a partnership with US-based Lyft, which would allow Chinese users to hail Lyft cars within their Didi apps. The company has also allied with India’s Ola and Southeast Asia’s Grab.

Uber, meanwhile, has eschewed direct partnerships with other ride-hailing apps, instead aiming to make its service smoother and more seamless for users abroad. One of the biggest seams to be ironed out is payments – and this latest deal is a step towards a solution.

Chinese citizens aren’t the only Uber users who have had difficulty paying for rides abroad – and the company also announced a still-in-the-works plan to expand support for India’s Paytm.