▲Click above to subscribe 点击上方蓝字关注我们
Chinese tech giant Tencent Holdings announced today that WeChat would allow users to link international credit cards to the platform, an issue that has long plagued foreign visitors as the country’s payment system has kept credit cards out for years.Tencent, the operator of the popular mobile chat application WeChat and payment network WeChat Pay, announced on Wednesday that WeChat users overseas could link credit cards issued by Visa Inc to their WeChat app from next month.
Foreign tourists can then pay using WeChat when traveling in the Chinese mainland.This comes after Mastercard announced last week that cardholders can link credit or debit cards to the Alipay digital wallet where they can finally “pay like a local”. Alipay is a mobile payment app owned by the Ant group.China’s mobile payment network became highly closed off to overseas tourists since mobile apps became the predominant payment method in the country in the late 2010s, which triggered a boom in e-commerce in China. But foreign visitors often find themselves unable to pay for things in the country where many business establishments now prefer to accept mobile payment rather than credit cards or cash.Prior to the easy card linkage change, foreigners in China typically needed to set up a Chinese bank account to access Tencent’s and Ant’s mobile payment networks.Tencent and Ant formed partnerships with Visa and Mastercard in 2019 to make foreign cards usable on their platforms. However, the pandemic took a toll on the progress of the initiatives as foreign arrivals to the country plummeted, two people familiar with the matter said.Nevertheless, the plans have regained momentum as China began reopening this year. Under the new setup, international travelers can set up their international bank cards on these apps by following a few simple steps.To trial the system, Tencent’s and Ant’s partnerships with Visa and Mastercard in 2019 already allowed some overseas users to use their credit cards in China. However, only select businesses were allowed to process international credit cards at the time. Now, Tencent and Ant are opening up their entire ecosystems to international bank cards, allowing visitors to pay for a host of goods and services ranging from a quick meal at a food truck to life insurance.“Our efforts to further open payment services to visitors coincide with the full resumption of travel and tourism to China, as well as major upcoming international events in the country scheduled this year,” Tencent said in a statement this Wednesday.Overseas tourists including those from Hong Kong and Macau spent US$131 billion in the Chinese mainland in 2019, before the onset of the pandemic.While China’s mobile payment networks have restricted foreign-issued credit cards, domestically issued credit cards under Visa and Mastercard have long been supported.
*The opinions expressed in the article are solely those of the author.* Follow Us
GBA Expats: Everything you need living in Shenzhen.
Contributions will be appreciated！
欢迎投稿！
add to communicate or join groups