Alipay, WeChat Pay opening to tourists
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 in the world’s secondlargest economy and have even supplanted cash at some businesses, announced the plans in rapid succession after 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.
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 sources.
Previously, regulatory concerns about money laundering and cross-border cash flows had prevented that from happening.
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 per cent of the country’s mobile-payment market.
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 travellers there.