Alipay is a digital wallet and super app (a mobile app that combines payments with many other services) from Ant Group, used by over 1 billion consumers, mainly in the Chinese mainland. A digital wallet stores a user's payment means in a phone app, so the user pays online or in shops from the app instead of with a card. Its Chinese site describes it as an independent third-party payment platform for online and mobile payments, transfers and bill payments.
Merchants outside China usually accept Alipay through an acquiring service provider (a company that processes payments for merchants and pays out the money). Alipay+, a separate gateway run by Ant International, connects 50 wallets including Alipay; the acquirer, such as Antom, handles onboarding, technical integration and settlement. A shopper pays by scanning the merchant's QR code, tapping the phone or presenting a payment code in the wallet.
Merchant fees are not a set rate: they depend on the provider, country, industry and volume, and are charged per successful transaction.