Alibaba's Payment Systems Unit Alipay Considers Stake In German Banking Software

As reported by the Bild am Sonntag Weekly and picked up by Reuters, the German banking software company WIRECARD AG NPV WRCDF is in talks with Alipay, a unit of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd BABA, to sell its stake of about 25 percent to the Chinese giant.

The Wirecard representative avoided providing any comments on the validity of the rumors, but stated that the company is negotiating with various partners, without giving further details.

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According to another source, Alipay's platform operator, Ant Financial was not talking to Wirecard about the potential investment. The two companies made a deal in December for providing mobile phone payment services to Chinese tourists visiting Europe.

As per the newspaper, this deal is advantageous for both sides: Alibaba receives access to German expertise, while the German company will benefit from having a large stakeholder, given that its stock price is negatively affected by short-sellers.

With 400 million active users, Alipay possesses 80 percent share of the mobile payments market and 50 percent of the online market in China.