Alibaba Executive Chairman Jack Ma said Tuesday (Nov. 11) that his Alipay payments unit “will definitely go public,” according to a report from Reuters covering Ma’s interview with an official state broadcaster. Alipay was not part of the massive IPO that Alibaba just completed.
“The main goal of listing isn’t for more money, but to let more people share in and be part of it,” Ma said.
But Ma revealed no other details about those plans, including any hint as to when it would go public. It’s also unclear whether it would listed directly as Alipay or its direct parent, Zhejiang Ant Small and Micro Financial Services Group, Reuters noted.
Alipay, which was the star of Alibaba’s Single’s Day sales event this week, is a key player in Alibaba’s plans. A major revenue-generator on its own, Alipay has been mentioned before by Ma as a possible partner with Apple Pay, which could give Apple a huge advantage in locking in transactions throughout much of Asia.
And Alipay is also focusing on its own biometrics approach, which goes beyond the fingerprint approach that Apple Pay uses and incorporates facial recognition, leveraging a phone’s camera.
