US-headquartered Walmart signed-up with WeChat Pay for in-store mobile payments in western China, scrapping support for rival Alipay in the process, Reuters reported.

Although many physical retailers in the country offer both WeChat Pay and Alipay transactions, Walmart – which has around 450 stores across China – is set to support just one of the platforms in the west of the country. The retailer said the decision was a business one based around customer experience.

Alibaba affiliate Alipay and Tencent’s WeChat Pay dominate mobile payments in China – the country leading the way in developed market mobile payment systems, with uptake exploding across the country.

Official government figures released last month revealed China’s mobile payment providers processed CNY81 trillion ($12.9 trillion) worth of transactions between them in the first ten months of 2017.

In January, South China Morning Post estimated brands from Tencent and Alipay accounted for 93 per cent of the country’s mobile payments.

Walmart’s decision to offer WeChat Pay but not Alipay builds on an existing deal to offer the Tencent brand in over 100 stores in China’s largest cities signed in 2016.