American Express is looking to expand its Serve digital wallet into global markets. The company announced a new agreement that will let Lianlian Group, a Chinese payment company, license the Serve mobile platform. Amex said it expects Lianlian Group to use Serve to power a digital wallet that Chinese consumers can use to top up mobile phone minutes, pay bills and purchase products or services.

Along with the partnership agreement, American Express announced an equity investment in Lianlian Pay Inc.

"Our partnership with Lianlian Group will allow a more flexible payment option for consumers in China," said Dan Schulman, group president for enterprise growth for American Express.

Schulman said Lianlian Group will be well positioned to let its customers bridge the gap between the limitation of paying with cash and the opportunities associated with digital commerce by leveraging the Serve platform.

Lianlian Group is a payment service that operates through a network of approximately 300,000 small business agents across China. Consumers use the agents to top up their mobile phone accounts, or in some locations pay for airline tickets and pay utility bills. Lianlian Group currently services around 300 million mobile phone accounts.

American Express said it will work with Lianlian Group to better serve the network of agents and consumers with a more convenient digital payment technology. The Serve platform behind Lianlian Group's new digital wallet will, over time, expand the types of payments and transactions that can be made through the service.

"American Express' partnership with Lianlian Group and the future integration of Serve's technology with our extensive network will enable Lianlian to better serve consumers and merchants in China," said Lianlian Pay Corporation CEO Arthur Zhu.

Lianlian Pay Corporation is an overseas company of Lianlian Group.

American Express said it will be opening a new office in Hangzhou, China to support Lianlian Group. The office will be headed by Matthew Lee, President, Enterprise Growth, American Express, China.

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