(Ecofin Agency) - Pan-African lender Ecobank has signed a partnership agreement with Alibaba’s payment  platform, Alipay. 

The partnership will ease instant transfers between the users of the two groups’ payment platforms, Rapidtransfer and Alipay. In addition, the move should diversify Ecobank’s offers, reduce transaction costs, and boost the quality of the group’s services.  

“Through our partnership with Alipay we are further leveraging the scale and capacity of our unified payments ecosystem on the global stage,” said Nana Abban, head of Ecobank’s consumer banking. Lauding performances of the group’s Rapidtransfer service, he indicated that “it has over the years been delivering transparent, convenient, and affordable services to the African diaspora and their African-based dependants.” 

The new solution, Ecobank informs, will be deployed across all 33 African countries where it operates, provided required local approvals are obtained. 

Alipay is the world’s leading online payment platform. It has more than 1.2 billion users.