Why banks around the world are watching China's big payments apps

The two payment apps flourished on the mainland by offering millions of people who were underserved by banks an easy way to store

Alipay’s azure blue logos began appearing two years ago in Hong Kong’s airport, greeting travellers from China who rely on the popular payments app back home.

In recent months, taxis got them. Now stores and boutiques have them.

They’re all signs of a battle brewing in Hong Kong that will test whether a Western-style financial system — based on banks, credit and debit cards — can fend off a pair of apps that have come to dominate how people spend and send money throughout China. If Ant Financial’s Alipay and Tencent’s WeChat Pay can expand into the city and win new customers