Alibaba.com announced on Wednesday the official launch of its AliPay online escrow system and the http://www.alipay.com website, which makes AliPay available to all businesses and individuals in China. The payment system provides buyers and sellers with a comprehensive solution that the company says resolves the issue of trust in online transactions while providing an efficient platform for transacting online.
"2005 will be the year online payment becomes a reality in China. With the help of our 10 million members, we expect AliPay will become the industry standard for safe online payments in China," said Jack Ma, CEO of Alibaba.com.
Alibaba.com has partnered with four of China's largest national banks, including China Merchants Bank, China Construction Bank, Agricultural Bank of China, and the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China. As part of the AliPay launch, Alibaba.com also announced that it will guarantee all transactions made through the AliPay escrow system and reimburse any buyer or seller using the system who is found to have been a victim of fraud.
"We are so confident AliPay is the safest way to trade online in China, that we are going to fully guarantee the service with our own money," said Ma. In the first several months' testing period, the AliPay service proved a success with the 4.5 million members of Taobao.com, an Alibaba.com subsidiary.
