Alipay app, known as 支付宝 (Zhīfùbǎo) in Chinese, is an online payment app that belongs to Alibaba Group (阿里巴巴 Ālǐbābā), the creator of Taobao (淘宝 Táobǎo). It was established in Hangzhou in 2013, but now its headquarters are in Shanghai. In 2015, Alipay overtook PayPal as the world’s largest mobile payment platform.

One of the most popular services on Alipay is, no doubt, online payments. But similarly to WeChat (微信 Wēixìn), Alipay is not just a payment app. The two are competing to be all-in-one, lifestyle platforms that people can use (and never leave) to conduct all their day-to-day activities.

So, what are these popular features on Alipay?

1. UTILITY PAYMENTS

生活缴费 (Shēnghuó Jiǎofèi)

Connect your account and pay for your water, gas, and electricity bills with automatic utility payments.

2. HELLOBIKE, BIKE SHARING SERVICE

哈罗出行 (Hāluó Chūxíng)

Rent shared bikes with your Alipay account without a deposit.

3. TOP-UP CENTER

充值中心 (Chōngzhí Zhōngxīn)

Top up your phone credit and purchase internet traffic packages.

4. ELEME, FOOD DELIVERY SERVICE

饿了吗 (Èleme)

Order food delivery from popular restaurants within the app.

5. ALIPAY TICKET SERVICE

电影演出 (Diànǐng Yǎnchū)

Buy movie and event tickets with Alipay’s ticket service.

6. “ANT FOREST” PROJECT

蚂蚁森林 (Mǎyǐ Sēnlín)

Go green and collect “green energy points” as rewards for your eco-friendly actions across other apps in Alibaba’s “Ant Forest” project.

7. ALIPAY MONEY TRANSFERS

转账 (zhuǎnzhàng)

You can easily send money to friends, as well as pay in online & offline shops with your unique QR code (二维码 èrwéimǎ). Purchases on Taobao and Tmall are also processed via Alipay.

We hope this article on 7 Most Popular Features on Alipay was helpful. If you’re looking to learn some more Mandarin, have a read about Mandarin Chinese Words Used To Describe Quantity.