Chinese Herald Chinese technology company Tencent will gradually open the WeChat Pay merchant network to international card networks such as VISA from mid-to-late July, which means that overseas users will be able to bind international credit and debit cards to pay merchants through WeChat Pay in China.
On June 28, Chen Qiru, vice president of Tencent Fintech, revealed the news at a sub-forum in Davos in the summer held in Tianjin.
He said that WeChat Pay has launched a pilot since 2019, supporting overseas users to bind international cards and spend at some pilot merchants, such as China Railway 12306 ticketing platform, JD.com, Ctrip, etc.; From mid-to-late July this year, WeChat Pay will be fully available to international cards.
It is understood that the online and offline merchant scenarios opened this time include but are not limited to supermarkets shopping, catering, hotel accommodation, transportation and other merchants, covering the fields of clothing, food, housing and transportation. However, overseas users still cannot make personal transfers, send red envelopes and other social attributes on WeChat after binding an international card.
Alipay, another major electronic payment platform in China, has also allowed overseas users to bind international credit cards to make cashless payments in China.
WeChat can be tied to an international card to pay in the mainland
China's mobile payment is developed, but it has not been able to bind overseas bank cards for a long time, making it difficult for overseas people to use them. Since the first half of this year, mobile payment platforms including Alipay and WeChat have added service solutions for overseas users and have been continuously upgraded.
Following Alipay's announcement on the 21st of this month to launch the Mainland consumer service bound to Mastercard, Tencent also announced on the 28th that it will open the service of binding international credit and debit cards to merchants in the mainland through WeChat Pay from July this year, fully covering the fields of clothing, food, housing and transportation, further improving the experience of overseas users in China by binding foreign cards for mobile payment and consumption.
Previously, expats in China typically needed to set up a Chinese bank account to access Tencent and Ant Financial's mobile payment networks. In 2019, Tencent and Ant Financial formed partnerships with VISA and Mastercard, and allowed overseas bank cards to be tied to the payment platforms of both companies. However, at that time, WeChat Pay supported overseas users to bind international credit cards, and consumption was limited to some pilot merchants, such as China Railway 12306 ticketing platform, JD.com, Ctrip, etc.
It is said that WeChat's "core point is actually to open up merchants, which can use more online and offline scenarios, and it is more convenient for consumers."
It is worth noting that overseas users are still required to verify their identity when binding a foreign card to WeChat Pay. In addition, although they can pay merchants in Chinese mainland through WeChat Pay, overseas users still cannot make personal transfers, send red envelopes and other social payments on WeChat.
Alipay's overseas user service plan was upgraded
Alipay, another major platform in China, has allowed overseas users to bind international credit cards to make cashless payments in China. MasterCard and Alipay announced on June 21 that they will launch a simple and secure cashless payment method for travelers to Chinese mainland, allowing cardholders to simply connect their Mastercard credit or debit card to Alipay e-wallet, regardless of where the card is issued.
Alipay introduced on the 28th that in order to facilitate overseas tourists to use mobile payment in China, since the beginning of this year, Alipay has joined hands with domestic and foreign partners to further upgrade the service plan for overseas users. At present, when overseas tourists come to Chinese mainland, they can easily realize QR code payment in two ways.
In addition to completing identity authentication and binding overseas bank cards through designated channels to achieve QR code payment through Alipay, tourists from Hong Kong, South Korea, Malaysia and other countries and regions can also use their familiar local e-wallets to realize QR code payment at Alipay merchants in Chinese mainland like locals.
Some netizens with IP showing that they are in Canada posted on Weibo, saying, "My Alipay (Alipay) can bind my credit card since I use my passport real name." Another netizen said, "I have used it this time is very convenient, Alipay's words are that I scan the merchant kind of can choose overseas cards." ”
More payment institutions or follow up to open
As early as three years ago, the People's Bank of China emphasized that the mobile payment convenience project has achieved remarkable results, but there are still some pain points and difficult problems. It is necessary to adhere to the purpose of inclusiveness, focus on serving the field of people's livelihood, and continuously improve the level of convenience of mobile payment services for overseas personnel in China.
In the eyes of the industry, whether it is opening up merchant networks or upgrading user services, it is an inevitable measure for third-party payment institutions to actively embrace overseas markets, and it is also a trend in the post-epidemic cross-border consumption recovery environment.
According to expert analysis, the full opening of the mainland payment merchant network to international card associations has improved the payment experience of overseas tourists and promoted mainland tourism consumption, which is a win-win behavior for tourists, overseas card organizations and WeChat Pay and Alipay, and other payment institutions are expected to follow suit.
It is said that subsequent conditional payment institutions will follow suit, not only to facilitate foreigners' credit card payment in China, but also to try to provide certain payment convenience for Chinese overseas consumption in the future, and use the compatibility of payment ports to strengthen China's "introduction" and "going out" in both directions.