Alipay+ partners with BKN301 to launch in San Marino

By Joy Dumasia

San Marino is now among the first European countries in which it is possible to use Alipay+ thanks to BKN301. Asian customers will now easily access information, promotions, and payments (online and offline) using their smartphones.

Across merchants’ payment terminals and mobile apps, Alipay+ provides a single solution and the same QR code for payments from all the digital payment tools it supports. With a one-time integration, acquirers and their merchants can access all existing and later-onboarded digital payment methods brought by Alipay+.

The project was presented at The Market San Marino in the presence of the Bodies and Institutions that have made it possible. The meeting was attended by delegations from BKN301, Alipay+, the Secretariat of State for Industry, Crafts and Commerce, The Market San Marino, Banca Agricola Commerciale, Banca di San Marino, Cassa di Risparmio della Repubblica di San Marino, Centro Servizi, N&TS GROUP – Networks & Transactional Systems Group SpA, San Marino Chamber of Commerce, PAX Italia, and The Market San Marino stores.

The event, organized by BKN301 in collaboration with Alipay+, aimed to show the operators of The Market San Marino the features and opportunities of this new digital payment and marketing solution, presenting an extraordinary leap forward on the path of simplification and digitization of payments.

Stiven Muccioli, Founder & CEO of BKN301, said: “The integration of Alipay + within our payment methods is a great opportunity for the development and growth of San Marino. Today, thanks to the potential of FinTech, we simplify the shopping experience of Asian customers and tourists who can now make use of smartphones in our country. This change will allow us to open up to new international markets and welcome a new and vast pool of customers from the East. To encourage and promote the evolution of banking and financial services, we will bring new solutions to those markets that are open to innovation and that look beyond the traditional offering, thus showing potential for growth. For this reason, the agreement with Alipay+ fits wholly into our strategy “.

Pietro Candela, Head of Europe Business Development of Alipay, said: “With Alipay+, the use and acceptance of payments is easy and intuitive: this will allow San Marino merchants to operate directly with global customers, opening new payment channels for Easter shoppers. In particular, the partnership with BKN301 is further confirmation of our commitment to support the development of the cashless economy in San Marino, which, in addition to guaranteeing a rewarding shopping experience, allows and helps merchants to intercept opportunities for visibility and growth on a global level”.

Fabio Righi, Secretariat of State for Industry, said: “Our Secretariat is called to promote economic development in all its forms. I believe that the result obtained is a concrete response to the now long-standing need of our country to align the commercial opportunities of our activities and our banking system with the most advanced payment technologies, taking a further step towards the concrete internationalization and digitization of the system. I sincerely thank Dr. Piero Candela, Head of Business Development at Alipay Europe, Dr. Rodrigo Cipriani, General Manager at Alibaba Group South Europe, Eng. Epifanio Troina, High-Level Representative EUREKA, for the support and commitment provided, and lastly, the San Marino operators in the sector who have done their utmost to achieve the success of the activation of the service, in particular BKN301 and its CEO Stiven Muccioli.”

Barbara De Magistris, Director of The Market San Marino, said: “We are pleased and proud to have hosted this unique event in the Republic of San Marino. Today we are celebrating an important day that will allow us to open new frontiers in the world of shopping and in the management of digital payments, not only for our stores in The Market San Marino but also throughout the Republic.”