Finland's department store Stockmann signed an agreement with ePassi, a mobile payment company in Finland, to formally introduce Alipay as a payment method in the department store.

Anna Salmi, chief customer officer of Stockmann Group, said that Alipay is not only a payment method, but also represents a method to attract Chinese tourists. This service will first available at Stockmann's flagship store in the center of Helsinki and gradually expanded to all Stockmann department stores across Finland. They may also expand it into their department stores in Baltic countries.

Stockmann has eight large department stores in Finland, Estonia, and Latvia. Chinese tourists have become the second largest foreign consumer group for Stockmann, following Russian tourists. The opening of Alipay allows their important customers to shop in a familiar way, which is significant to them, said Salmi.

Risto Virkkala, president of ePassi, said that Stockmann is a top retailing group in Finland and its acceptance of Alipay has a milestone meaning for the expansion of Alipay in Finland and in Europe. It also has a strong promotional effect for the cooperation between ePassi and Alipay.

With 600,000 customers, ePassi is one of the largest mobile payment companies in Finland. It has been operating in this field for ten years and it claims to have had significant business and customer growth after cooperating with Alipay.