Alibaba's Ant Financial has revamped its mobile payments app to incorporate a wealth of new features including merchant discounting and loyalty points, mobile-to-mobile money transfer and social messaging services. Formerly known as Alipay Wallet, the new Alipay 9.0 app, includes a redesigned user interface as well as added functions geared to provide easy mobile access to purchase and pay for products and services from local restaurants, shops and other outlets, to obtain discount e-coupons, and share product recommendations and red envelopes with friends, among other features. “The new Alipay app is no longer a wallet,” says Fan Zhiming, president of Ant Financial’s payment business unit. “It is a platform which will change the way you shop, the way you spend and the way you manage your finances.

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