(Yicai Global) Aug. 7 -- Chinese fintech giant Ant Financial Services Group has reached a deal with Dubai's largest private bank to increase the number of merchants that accept Alipay mobile wallet transactions to 1,000 in the next three months, up from 150 at present.

The Hangzhou-based Alibaba Group Holding affiliate will broaden cooperation with Mashreq Bank as part of the emirate's efforts to attract more Chinese tourists, state-linked online news agency Huanqiu reported.

The cooperation will In the result in 85 percent of Mashreq Bank retail partners bringing in Alipay services within two to three months, Pankaj Kundra, head of payments at Mashreq Bank, adding that the bank will expand acceptance of the digital wallet at Dubai's airport and other places.

China is a key source of tourists to the UAE and most of them are used to completing purchases using mobile payments through Alipay or its biggest rival WeChat Pay. The number of Alipay transactions made in the Arabian Peninsula country grew some 16 times in the second quarter this year Kundra said without disclosing the total transaction value.

Between one-fifth and one-quarter of Chinese visitors to the UAE over the next year are expected to use Alipay as their primary means of payment, and the transaction volume is slated to increase significantly.

The deal builds on an agreement signed in late February that marked Alipay's entry into the UAE market. The pair aimed to form synergies between Alipay's 600 million-strong domestic user base and Chinese tourist numbers to the UAE, which are growing at around 40 percent per year.

Editor: William Clegg