Alipay vs Apple in US battle

Alipay is now available at many grocery stores outside China. [Photo: Xinhua]

Alipay is to challenge the likes of Apple Pay and Paypal on their home turf.

The firm, which is one of the dominant forces in Chinese online payments, will shortly become a payment option in four million North American businesses.

Initially, this will be primarily of use to Chinese tourists in America.

However, as access to Alipay expands, it's expected that more and more Americans will start to use their services, too.

In April, the board of MoneyGram International had approved a merger bid with Ant Financial of Hangzhou, the owners of Alipay.

Under the terms of the deal, Ant Financial will offer $18 per share of MoneyGram, an increase on a January offer of $13.25 per share.

The offer is also significantly larger than the $15.20 per share offered by rival firm Euronet.

MoneyGram is a global provider of innovative money transfer services and is recognized worldwide as a financial connection to friends and family.

Ant Financial Services Group is focused on serving small and micro enterprises, as well as consumers. With the vision "bring small and beautiful changes to the world," Ant Financial is dedicated to building an open ecosystem of Internet thinking and technologies while working with other financial institutions to support the future financial needs of society.