In Portugal, where tourism and study-abroad demand remains steady around Lisbon and Porto, Chinese-speaking visitors and residents strongly prefer to keep using the payment app they already use at home. Alipay is the default wallet for mainland Chinese users, and through the Alipay+ partner network it also connects users of partner wallets across various Asian countries into a single acceptance channel. In other words, the target customer of this page is not local Portuguese consumers, but Chinese-speaking consumers who happen to be in Portugal.

This suits merchants running duty-free and travel products, hotel and tour bookings, or online sales targeting Chinese-speaking consumers (including reverse direct purchases of Korean goods). If your goal is revenue from local Portuguese consumers, you should look at a Multibanco and MB WAY setup first, rather than this method.

When a consumer selects Alipay at the payment screen, they are taken to the app, where they check the converted amount in RMB and approve it with the in-app password or biometric authentication. Once approved, the transaction is confirmed in euros (EUR) on the merchant's side, and any exchange rate difference between the consumer and the merchant is handled using Alipay's published exchange rate. The fact that this is a real-name-verified user base, given the nature of mainland Chinese accounts, is also favorable for risk management.

Through Hecto Financial, a domestic merchant can consider accepting Alipay and Alipay+ partner wallets without a direct contract with Ant Group. Product category restrictions and actual terms (settlement cycle, fees, currency options) need to be confirmed through consultation before signing a contract.

• Business registration country

  Confirm whether a contract is possible based on a domestic business registration

• Sales channels

  The integration method and priority vary depending on your online sales channel mix, such as owned store, marketplace, or mobile app

• Product categories

  Advance confirmation is needed on whether your products fall under restricted categories per Alipay's merchant policy

• EU regulatory compliance

  Confirmation is needed on compliance with EU payment regulations such as PSD2 and SEPA (see official sources below)

Consumers pay in RMB, but the merchant's portion is collected by Hecto Financial in euros (EUR) and, after currency conversion, paid to the domestic merchant in whichever currency — USD, KRW, or JPY — was chosen at contract time. On refunds, the amount the consumer receives can vary depending on how the original transaction's exchange rate is handled, so it is advisable to confirm the refund policy and processing timeline in advance and reflect it in customer-facing notices.

• Banco de Portugal (Bank of Portugal)Official information on Portugal's payment systems and related regulations. If this page's content differs from actual regulations, the official source takes precedence.