Alipay available in the Swiss kiosk market for the first time via Margot

As the technical implementer, the Euronet segment epay is launching a new scalable reseller model for franchises and cooperatives in the form of the advanced Margot solution

Lutry (Switzerland)/ Martinsried (Germany), September 30, 2020

Wholesaler Ch. Margot & Cie. SA, a company that is part of Groupe Margot in Switzerland, has become the first franchisor of Swiss kiosks and sales points of all types to offer Alipay as an innovative payment method for Chinese tourists. The franchisor has used the last few months during the coronavirus crisis to plan ahead for when Chinese tourists will return to Switzerland in large numbers. While epay, part of Euronet Worldwide Inc. (NASDAQ:EEFT), is already a long-established Margot partner for prepaid cards, in becoming the technical service provider for the Alipay implementation it is expanding its collaboration with Margot to include payment solutions. The European market leader in prepaid and gift card products also offers high-tech payment solutions in this area, from contactless and optical payment methods to payment processes that use mobile wallets independent of the payment medium.

Simple Alipay connection to existing prepaid terminals via the epay app for franchisees

The special feature of the implementation solution developed for Margot is the fact that it uses the technical infrastructure already in place: The kiosk operators do not have the traditional payment terminals through which this payment method is traditionally installed. Instead, they use Android-based terminals that process the prepaid products. Payment service provider epay therefore developed a new Alipay integration in its app, which kiosk operators can easily install on existing prepaid terminals. As a result, additional, traditional payment terminals are no longer needed.

Margot’s prepaid terminals are not only for classic kiosks and retail trade customers, but can also be deployed by any interested sales points or service providers such as hotels, museums and public transport providers etc. The epay app creates the connection between Alipay and Margot via processing through epay’s platform, which safely processed 1.5 billion transactions for payments, prepaid and gift-card products globally last year.

“With this solution we’ve developed a pioneering and scalable reseller model that enables franchises and cooperatives in particular to use our epay app to easily integrate Alipay, other alternative payment methods, and value-added services into their existing infrastructure without significant additional outlay,”

– Dr. Markus Landrock,
Managing Director epay DACH Global Issuing, Payments & Rewards

Alipay – attractive for kiosk operators in Switzerland

Switzerland is a popular tourist destination. In 2018 alone, the Swiss Federal Statistical Office recorded 5.9 million stays in accommodation by Asian tourists. In addition, numerous Chinese tourists visit Switzerland on day trips from Germany, France, Italy, and Austria, and tens of thousands of Chinese people permanently reside in the country. They can now make use of this popular Chinese payment method at any kiosk operator, and in future at any sales point that works with a Margot terminal.

Alipay, as the largest digital payment platform in China, provides retailers such as kiosk operators the chance to attract Chinese consumers to their stores, as Alipay not only includes a payment function, but also a store finder and marketing options for retailers.

It is easy to use: The customer opens the Alipay app on their smartphone at the cash register and generates a QR code with a tap of the finger, which is scanned and the purchase is completed.

Interested franchisees/customers of Ch. Margot & Cie. SA (Margot) should please reach out to their sales contact to put an Alipay connection in place (https://www.margot.ch)

About Margot

Groupe Margot is a Switzerland-based family business that was founded more than 75 years ago, and which consists of three group companies in the fields of distribution, logistics, and information technology. As a wholesale business, the group company Ch. Margot & Cie SA provides services for industry and retailers. It supplies 4,000 business customers with a range of 7,000 products. Product orders – from food and non-food to confectionery, alcohol, tobacco, and prepaid cards – are fulfilled within 24 hours.

https://shop.margot.ch/

About epay

epay is a world-leading full-service provider for payment processing and prepaid solutions that processed 1.5 billion transactions in 2019. The company has built up an extensive network of retailers with 703,000 point-of-sale terminals in 54 countries, to connect renowned brands with consumers all around the world. The company offers a portfolio of gift cards (prepaid, closed loop and digital media), business incentives and payment solutions (card acceptance, terminals, e-commerce, mobile and Internet of Payment) for omnichannel commerce, and offers its services thanks to its proprietary cash register integration software.

epay is a segment of Euronet Worldwide, Inc. (NASDAQ: EEFT), a Kansas-based company which earned $2.7 billion in revenue in 2019, employing a staff of over 7,700 employees and serving customers in 170 countries.

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