(Yicai Global) July 30 -- China’s biggest food delivery app Meituan Dianping has removed Alipay, the world’s largest mobile payment platform run by e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding, as a payment option for its customers and replaced it with its own in-house credit service as the rivalry between the country’s third-party payment platforms intensifies.

Meituan customers are now presented first with Meituan’s own monthly payment plan, which offers credit facilities of up to CNY12,000 (USD1,713), when preparing to pay. Other options include debit card, ApplePay and WeChat Pay, operated by internet giant Tencent Holdings, which has an 18 percent stake in Meituan.

"Why doesn’t Alibaba’s e-commerce platform Taobao support WeChat Pay and Meituan Monthly Pay," Beijing-based Meituan said on its Weibo account, in response to the controversial move.

China’s two biggest mobile payment platforms, Alipay and WeChat Pay, operated by Alibaba and Tencent respectively, are locked in intense competition. Alipay holds 48.44 percent market share while WeChat Pay has 33.59 percent, according to data from Beijing-based market consultancy firm Analysys.

Their rivalry is clear to see in the businesses they back. Taobao does not allow payments with WeChat Pay.However, Yicai Global noticed that theAlibaba-backed food delivery platform Eleme, a major rival for Meituan, can provide Wechat pay service.

By shutting out Alipay, Meituan is able to get a foot into the credit payment sector. Launched on May 29, Meituan’s new monthly payment plan is already proving popular among young people born between 1990 and 1999, the firm said. During the trial period, there was an average increase of 20 percent in orders and an over 15 percent gain in transaction amounts, Meituan said.

"If customer loyalty to the Meituan app is strong enough and the registration and user experience is smooth, many new people will soon sign up for the service," the Securities Times reported, citing a person working at a payment institution.

Meituan Dianping's stock [HKG:3690] rose 1.04 percent today to close at HKD195 (USD25) apiece. With a market capitalization of HKD1.15 trillion (USD148 billion) it is the third most valuable Chinese tech business, behind only Alibaba and Tencent.

Alibaba held a 1.48 percent stake in Meituan Dianping as of June 2018.

Several other e-trading platforms offer their own in-house payment options, such as Ant Group's Huabei, WeChat's Jiebei, JD.Com's Baitiao, Qunar.com's Naquhua and Suning.com's Renxingfu.

Editor: Kim Taylor