European customers of Chinese online retail giant Alibaba are about to get easier payment options for goods, thanks to a partnership between the online store and online banking payment company Trustly. This is made possible through the leading global payment service provider, Igenico and will be launching in 16 countries initially.

Trustly CEO Oscar Berglund speaks on the partnership:

“Alibaba.com is a force to be reckoned with in e-commerce and we are truly delighted to be one of its chosen bank payment providers for its European customers. Through Ingenico, we can help Alibaba.com offer a localized payment mix, which is crucial for converting new customers and improving loyalty and satisfaction among existing ones,” he said.

More Secure Payments for Customer Loyalty

Alibaba serves over 10 million customers from 190 countries globally who have unique needs in terms of making payments online. This is a major hindrance to patronage but with the new partnership, European buyers now have one of the easiest payment options which enable payments directly from their bank accounts through Ingenico.

With a refund feature also enabled with Trustly, customers don’t have to worry about long processes in case there need for a refund. In addition, online bank payments make it easy for them to verify when payments are completed and they get to avoid the stress of using credit or debit cards which are also very prone to attack by online theft of funds.

Encouraging Growth of E-commerce

E-commerce is a growing industry that is fast overtaking the direct buying and selling from physical shops. This may be because of the convenience of shopping from home and having goods delivered to their doorsteps. Alibaba has been a major promoter of this industry by allowing users worldwide to easily shop online and make payments in local currencies.

With this new partnership, the company is taking the promotion to a whole new level and the European customer base may also be experiencing a major boost as their dream payment channel has been made a reality.

Buyers from Austria, Belgium, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, and the UK can now access the service while more countries are to be enabled later as the need arises and as local regulations permit.