Tourists to China can finally use the country’s massively popular mobile payment systems
PUBLISHED WED, NOV 6 20192:10 AM EST
Arjun Kharpal
@ARJUNKHARPAL
KEY POINTS
Chinese payment platforms WeChat Pay and Alipay say they can now support foreign credit and debit cards.
Users previously needed a Chinese bank account to use the two platforms, China’s most popular.
Both platforms will now be able to support Visa, Mastercard, Japan’s JCB and Singapore’s Diners Club cards.
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A merchant displaying signs showing that it accepts Alipay and WeChat pay.
Shiho Fukada | Bloomberg | Getty Images
If you’ve ever been on a trip to China, you’ll know that paying for things can be very difficult if you’re a tourist.
WeChat Pay and Alipay are two of the most popular mobile payment methods in China, and most people pay on those platforms using barcodes, known as QR codes, on their phones.
Not many places accept foreign cards like Visa or Mastercard and tourists have few options but to use cash — but all that’s about to change.
Chinese tech giant Tencent operates WeChat Pay’s QR code payment systems, while Alibaba affiliate Ant Financial runs Alipay’s platform. Previously, users could not use the two digital payment platforms if they did not have a Chinese bank account
But On Tuesday, Ant Financial announced it is launching a version of the Alipay app that will support international debit or credit cards. After downloading Alipay on Google’s Android or Apple’s iOS, users can register for the international version of the app using their foreign mobile number.
Users can then top up money onto a pre-paid virtual card and begin using Alipay across China. Ant Financial said Alipay will support Visa, Mastercard, Japan’s JCB and Singapore’s Diners Club cards.
Tencent also said on Tuesday that it would provide support for the same cards, as well as American Express, on WeChat Pay.
Visa tweeted in response to the Tencent news: “This partnership means that we’ll be working towards an environment where Visa cardholders will be able to use their Visa card in China at the millions of places where WeChat Pay is accepted, instead of having to rely on cash.”
Millions of visitors go to China each year. In 2018, a total of 141 million inbound visitors were in China, up 1.2% compared to a year earlier.
This is the first time WeChat Pay and Alipay will be available to international users.
So far both companies have focused on getting merchants abroad to accept the payment methods so that Chinese tourists can pay when they go on holiday. But both firms have not launched versions of their apps for users based outside mainland China and Hong Kong.
source: https://www.cnbc.com/2019/11/06/alipay-wechat-pay-allow-tourists-in-china-to-use-foreign-cards.html
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Alipay, WeChat Pay Open Apps to Foreigners Visiting China
Bloomberg
Bloomberg News
BloombergNovember 6, 2019
Alipay, WeChat Pay Open Apps to Foreigners Visiting China
(Bloomberg) -- Chinese payments giants Alipay and WeChat Pay, long a source of worry among competitors abroad, plan to open up their platforms to foreigners visiting the mainland as regulators ease restrictions.
The apps, which dominate payments across the world’s second-largest economy and have even supplanted cash at some businesses, announced the plans in rapid succession after previously requiring users to have local accounts. Opening up to visitors may give an incremental boost to spending on the platforms -- but for overseas firms, it has big implications, potentially helping pave the way for future adoption abroad.
“Although there will be some revenue coming from the foreigners using the card, the more interesting aspect is how seamless the cross-border Alipay and WeChat Pay experience is becoming,” said Zennon Kapron, founder and director of research consultant Kapronasia.
Behind the scenes, China’s central bank recently told a number of payments firms they will soon be allowed to plug foreign cards into their apps for use in China, according to two people with knowledge of the situation. Previously, regulatory concerns about money laundering and cross-border cash flows had prevented that from happening. The central bank offered no immediate comment to an inquiry sent by fax.
The move will provide relief to some of the more-than 30 million people who visit China annually and sometimes struggle to find alternate payment methods. Alipay and Tencent account for 94% of the country’s mobile-payment market.
Already, Alipay and WeChat Pay’s logos are visible in stores and taxis in major cities around the world as the firms focus on helping Chinese travelers there. The expectation across the industry is that the apps will someday use that infrastructure to attract locals in those destinations.
To be sure, the ability to work with credit cards is still pending. In its announcement, Ant Financial’s Alipay laid out a system that will work around current restrictions and can start immediately.
Alipay said it’s letting travelers use a prepaid card service provided by the Bank of Shanghai. That means customers will have to periodically top off that account, which will be limited in amount.
In contrast, Tencent Holdings Ltd.’s WeChat Pay intends to let people more directly connect their existing cards to its app. Visa described that plan in a statement of support early Wednesday in China, saying it will essentially enable its cards to work across China.
“This is a great step forward, both for consumers traveling to China and the overall payments industry,” Visa said. “This partnership means that we’ll be working towards an environment where Visa cardholders will be able to use their Visa card in China at the millions of places where WeChat Pay is accepted, instead of having to rely on cash.”
The companies didn’t provide a time frame.
Tencent, acknowledging that it’s working under guidelines from regulators, said it has been discussing cooperation with U.S. card-network operators Visa, Mastercard, American Express and Discover as well as Japan’s JCB to support the linking of overseas credit cards to Wechat Pay.
(Updates with researcher’s comment, regulatory guidance, statistics on market from third paragraph.)
To contact Bloomberg News staff for this story: Lucille Liu in Beijing at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.;Heng Xie in Beijing at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.;Lulu Yilun Chen in Hong Kong at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Jun Luo at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., David Scheer
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source: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/alipay-wechat-pay-open-apps-044840536.html
