Munich-headquartered Wirecard AG and the Chinese third-party Internet payment platform Alipay.com have signed a cooperation agreement to provide fast and secure payment services to Internet users.

With the signing of this agreement, Wirecard's over 12,000 vendor customers will be able to use Alipay's fast and secure payment channel. Meanwhile, Alipay's users will gain the access to products and services provided by users of Wirecard. Alipay.com is a part of the Chinese e-commerce behemoth Alibaba.

Wang Gang, general manager of Alipay.com, told local media that Wirecard is one of the leading payment service providers in Europe. The cooperation between the two parties will allow Chinese consumers to purchase quality foreign products on the Internet. It also opens a door for international businesses that target the huge profits from the Chinese market.

Wirecard provides services to 12,000 vendors around the world, covering ticketing, hotel, PC, software and gaming industries. International giants like Dell, Microsoft, Malaysia Airlines, and Turkish Airlines are reportedly all clients of Wirecard.

Rudiger Trautmann, chief operating officer of Wirecard, said that the strategic alliance of the two parties combines the geographical advantages of both companies. Stimulated by the rapidly developing economy, the number of Chinese tourists visiting Europe was over 2.5 million in 2007, and the average consumption of these tourists was about USD5,000. Being able to provide the Chinese consumers with a payment solution they are familiar with will become a major advantage for Wirecard's clients who run outbound tourism businesses.