When Cherry Huang joined Alipay in 2016, she asked her boss what her revenue KPI was and she was told the only target was number of users. 'Jack Ma believes if you have users, then you can succeed,' she said.

Speaking at the STB Marketing Conference last week, Huang, who was appointed general manager of cross-border business for South and Southeast Asia of Alipay in December 2016, made it clear that it was not the intention of Ant Financial Services to build Alipay into a global consumer brand.

Cherry Huang: “Alipay is a Chinese brand for Chinese consumers.”

“Alipay is a Chinese brand for Chinese consumers,” she said.

For its expansion into global markets, it has invested in and forged local partnerships such as with Paytm in India, Globe in Philippines and Elang Mahkota Teknologi.of Indonesia. “As we expand, we want to help others become successful, not grow our own brand,” she said.

She also made it clear that Alipay is not “a fintech, but techfin”, a subtle difference in that it is about deploying technology in the financial service industry.

She also said she does not see Alipay competiting with Apple Pay. “Apple Pay is smart payment, Alipay is smart lifestyle.”

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