Tencent boosts digital payment services for tourists’ to China

By Gloria Mathias

Tencent has enhanced the payment experience for visitors to mainland China to foster cross-border tourism and international cultural exchanges.

A series of measures streamlines the process as it is more convenient and safer to register for a WeChat account, as well as quicker and easier to link international cards to Weixin Pay. Weixin Pay is also actively exploring interoperability with more overseas e-wallets to further enhance the payment experiences for visitors.

After downloading or updating the latest version of the WeChat app, overseas users can register for a WeChat account with an overseas mobile number and either sign up for a new account or sign in with an existing WeChat account.

After filling in basic card details to link an eligible international card with Weixin Pay, overseas users will be able to easily access over tens of millions of merchants in mainland China, including SMBs and street vendors. The simplified card linking process allows international visitors to spend up to a certain amount safely and conveniently.

Weixin Pay has increased transaction limits for verified international users, with the single transaction limit being raised from $1,000 to up to $5,000, and annual transaction limit being raised from $10,000 to up to $50,000.

To provide international visitors with more diverse payment options, in addition to linking international cards with Weixin Pay, overseas users can also apply for and link UnionPay’s Tour Card, a pre-paid card offering a one-stop service for top-up and consumption, through Weixin Pay.

To support visitors to China in using their existing local e-wallets, Tenpay Payment Technology Co.,Ltd, NetsUnion Clearing Corporation, and China Construction Bank (Malaysia) have partnered with Payments Network Malaysia (PayNet) for Cross-Border QR payment interoperability.

Users of multiple local wallets in the PayNet system will soon be able to make payments in the mainland of China by scanning Weixin Pay QR code displayed by merchants there. Tenpay Global, Tencent’s cross-border payment platform, will also work with NetsUnion to connect more overseas local wallets.