Alipay bolstered its ongoing expansion in Europe after announcing partnerships with four financial service providers.

The company said it will team with Barclays, BNB Paribas, UniCredit and SIX Payment Services, with the move enabling an additional 930,000 merchants to join its European network.

Alipay, which has 450 million users, said it was looking to increase its access to Chinese tourists, with the partnerships designed to make it easier for travellers to pay with the Alipay app on their smartphones in European shops and restaurants.

In a statement, the company said the latest bout of partnerships marks “the next step in Alipay’s international expansion”.

“Our users’ lifestyles are increasingly global, so its vital we are able to work with leading payment providers across the world to bring our trusted and convenient services to Alipay users wherever and whenever they need them,” said Douglas Feagin, SVP of Ant Financial – the online finance division of Alipay parent Alibaba – and president of Alipay International.

Alipay first entered Europe in 2015 when it partnered with retailer Tripidi in Germany, and has since struck similar deals with companies including German vendor Wirecard and French payment processing group Ingenico.

At the end of Q3 2016, Alipay said it had a network of close to 100,000 retailers covering 70 countries, excluding mainland China.