Sberbank in partnership with Alipay launches money transfers to China via phone number

MOSCOW. Feb 1 (Interfax) - Sberbank has launched money transfers to China via phone number, the credit institution said in a statement posted on its website.

In order to make a remittance, one simply indicates the phone number and full name of the recipient in Sberbank Online, and the funds are automatically credited to the Alipay wallet in Chinese yuan. The service has been launched jointly with Western Union, and the transfer fee is 1%.

Sberbank Deputy Chairman of the Executive Board Kirill Tsarev in December 2021 announced the bank's plans to launch instant transfers via mobile phone number to China, noting that China's Alipay would act as Sberbank's partner.

Sberbank currently provides instant cross-border transfers to 49 partners in nine countries.

Founded in 2004, Alipay, part of Alibaba Group, is one of the largest payment systems that is used today by over 460,000 companies worldwide.