Ant Financial, an affiliate of Jack Ma’s Alibaba Group, has announced a strategic partnership with OpenRice, Hong Kong’s most popular online restaurant database and review service.
With the partnership, Ant Financial will become a minority shareholder of OpenRice holding 20 percent of the company’s shares. How much Ant Financial is investing in the private company was not disclosed.
Eric Jing, chief executive of the online financial services giant, believes the partnership would support the further growth of Hong Kong’s dining industry.
Jing said the partnership aims to expand the use of Alipay’s mobile wallet and payment service in the city, with Alipay becoming a payment option within OpenRice’s mobile application. Leveraging on OpenRice’s platform, more local restaurants are expected to accept Alipay as a payment option soon, especially those catering for mainland tourists.
OpenRice has expanded to other Asian markets, including mainland China, Taiwan, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines and India.
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