Avangate partnered with Alipay to support strategic expansion into China

Software vendors can further grow their business by tapping into this emerging market

Chinese version

Amstelveen, The Netherlands - Avangate, full service provider of electronic software distribution and reseller management solutions for software vendors, and Alipay, China's leading online payment service, announce today a partnership between the two companies that will enable Avangate vendors to accept Alipay for China domestic payments in Chinese Renminbi (RMB).

Part of Avangate’s strategic plan to further penetrate this marketplace, the partnership with Alipay will help software vendors engage in a more focused market approach and position themselves better to serve the growing software market in China. Avangate already provides a localized ordering system and customer support area in Chinese.

With a daily transaction volume exceeding RMB700 million (EUR69 million) through an average of 4 million transactions, Alipay is China's largest online payment service in terms of both the number of users and transaction volume.

"China is an important software market which has seen positive growth even through the recession; we are putting at our vendors’ disposal all the tools they need to sell software there.  A local, popular payment method is obviously a key part of the equation and we are pleased that we have partnered with Alipay to provide this", noted Carmen Sebe, CEO of Avangate.

"We're pleased to offer Avangate a trusted and secure online payment solution to make the sale of their clients’ products more efficient and effective," said Polo Shao, president of Alipay. "With our experience in online payment and our 200-million-plus customer base, we look forward to helping Avangate and other outstanding international brands to expand their product and service offerings in Asia.”

Chinese customers can now purchase software from Avangate vendors and pay online in RMB with their Alipay account directly. This payment method is available immediately for all Avangate vendors.

The Avangate-Alipay partnership will be officially launched in China at the Avangate Global Software Selling Conference, taking place December 5th, 2009 at The Park Plaza Beijing Science Park.

About Alipay
Alipay is China's largest online payment service in terms of both the number of users and transaction volume. As a member of the Alibaba Group, it enables individuals and businesses to securely, easily and quickly send and receive payments online. Alipay works like an escrow service, solving the issue of settlement risk in Mainland China. As of July 2009, Alipay had more than 200 million users and a daily transaction volume exceeding RMB700 million in 4 million transactions.
More information on www.alipay.com