Asia

Chinese tourists visiting Malaysia can now use their Alipay mobile wallet at all 242 Starbucks locations in the country.

E-commerce cross-border payments provider dLocal has updated its platform in India, enabling global e-merchants to accept and remit payments through all local methods and target the mobile consumer in the country.

Payments are getting more complex as business gets more global, adding channels and expanding ways to sell. Part of the strategy at the matchmaker crowdSPRING is to find a match of its own: AliExpress, Alibaba's online marketplace. It’s also considering a foray into virtual currency.

The simple act of moving money can have a big impact on any political movement, so banks and payment networks are often caught up in issues of national importance. Here are some recent instances where payments and politics came head-to-head.

China's Alipay already has broad global reach—its mobile wallet is accepted at more than 100,000 retail locations in 70 international markets—but in North America it’s just getting started.

The Commonwealth Bank of Australia money-laundering scandal has damaged the public's perception of the whole banking sector, according to the head of the industry's lobby group.

Mastercard and Visa have also opened development centers in India, where digital payments are growing quickly.

Alipay and WeChat Pay have become important drivers in the Chinese economy, putting the central bank in a position to force all third-party payment firms to connect to the new clearinghouse.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch is launching a payments collection platform that helps users manage mobile wallets and card payments in China through an arrangement with China UnionPay Merchant Services.

China’s fastest-growing online industry segment in the first half was food delivery, as startups backed by Tencent Holdings Ltd. and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. touted discounts and marshaled armies of people to get restaurant meals to the homes of almost 300 million.