First overseas transport card launched for Chinese Tourists

To make outbound travel more seamless for Chinese tourists, NETS and Alipay launched the first overseas transport card that can be purchased right off Alipay’s mobile wallet, which has 190 million active users across China. Tourists can now buy the Alipay FlashPay cards before flying out of China, the two firms announced in a media.

World Tourism Cities Federation data specifies that transport is a top concern for Chinese tourists, who prefer travelling by public transport overseas.

Customers who purchase the card on Alipay will be sent an e-voucher, which is presented at designated counters in Changi Airport to enable collection of the card. The Alipay Flashpay card costs $50 – with a card cost of $5 and a stored value of $45. Customers can buy up to five Alipay FlashPay cards, and those who redeem the card by March 31 next year will get a $20 voucher from Changi Airport Group (CAG).

Mr. Ang Sok Hong, Nets’ senior vice-president of sales, said, the co-brand transit card aims to make trip planning and outbound travel easy for tourists. “Given Alipay’s popularity among Chinese consumers and its volume of traffic, it was only natural for us to partner with Alipay to see how we could make outbound travel more seamless for Chinese tourism.”

According to, Mr. Peh Ke-Wei, vice-president of passenger development at CAG, such collaborations can boost passenger traffic. China has “consistently been the second-largest visitor market for the past five years, with some 2.27 million Chinese tourists visiting Singapore in 2013.”